Redefining the Soul
by NibelungVelocity
Summary: AU. Genderbend w/ Fem!Luke. Lorelei was desperate to do something other than wait for the world to end. Luke just wanted to be useful, and Asch just wanted to knock some sense into them both. Part IV: Asch's New Title--Isofon Buddy
1. Complimentary Opposites

I...really don't know where to start. This is one of those stories that one writes ages ago and promptly forgets about to move on to other things. I spat this out when I first got Tales of the Abyss last year. I loved the game, was inspired, and this incomplete work happened. Imagine my surprise when I found the old flash drive it was stored on just last week. I was sick in bed with the flu, so I spent my time messing around with it (even though I should be working on my other fic...).

This story was really me wanting to try my hand at girl!Luke (because I like that sort of thing for some reason XD) and have it kinda, sorta, maybe believable? On an embarrassing note, I giggled like a immature tween from the moment I saw that Lorelei gave Asch a sword and Luke a jewel. Honestly, that's where it _really_ came from. I wonder if I should be ashamed of myself.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Tales of the Abyss. It is the property of Namco Bandai.

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LORELEI

Gender: Feminine

Usage: Germanic Mythology

Pronounced: lawr-e-LIE, LAWR-e-lie [key]

From a Germanic name meaning "luring rock". This is the name of a rock headland on the Rhine River. Legends say that a maiden named the Lorelei lives on the rock and lures fishermen to their death with her song. [1]

**********

Part I: Complimentary Opposites

**********

Luke fon Fabre

Luke didn't really want to admit it, but ever since he was whisked out of the manor and dumped into the outside world, he had been utterly terrified.

He thought he did a pretty good job of hiding it, as it was a source of shame and it made him think of things he wished he could ignore. Besides, shouldn't a student of Master Van be more courageous? More sure of himself? As much as he detested it, the manor was his entire world—the only world he knew. Whatever experiences he had before he was placed in lock down were long gone, probably forever, and so he had been forced to learn to walk, talk, read, write, and just exist inside the manor walls for the past seven years of his life. Luke ached for the time he would reach his majority, true, but if he wanted to be honest with himself it was highly unlikely he'd have left Baticul much after that. He wasn't prepared to leave, not by a long shot.

Damn, he was so _scared_.

And Luke was so sick of being scared but he couldn't help it. The monsters scared him, fighting scared him, the uncertainty scared him, the sheer _openness_ of the world scared him. For the first time in his life there were no walls, and everything stretched out as if it went on forever. There was only space—space, space, and more space and it made him a little dizzy to even look out towards the horizon. He was exposed, open to who knows what with no safe haven to retreat to should something happen. If it weren't for the fact that he wanted to go back home (which was pretty ironic, considering) he'd have probably ducked into some small cave and _stayed_ there just to get some relief. And the only person he had for company was an assassin, the same one responsible for getting him stuck out here in the first place. Not that Luke was all that threatened by her; she apparently thought she could kill Master Van even though she couldn't even kill a boar without his assistance, so he really didn't need to worry about her. Luke remembered the anger he felt then, the petty surge of glee as he imagined what would happen when they got back to Baticul, Van's sister or not. It had dissipated as time wore on, but sometimes he would imagine her getting tossed into the dungeon when her bossiness got on his nerves.

But, still, he learned. He learned how to apply his training to actual battles, he learned how to shop (which was fun, he admitted, and he found himself really enjoying it), he learned little things that everyone else took for granted. Even though the wide open spaces still gave him that shameful feeling of anxiety, he could travel and do things if he just focused on something else. He could do it, of course he could, he just needed to adjust, that was all.

Luke very nearly burst into tears when Guy found them. He was so relieved to see a familiar face it was all he could do not to fall all over him as if he were ten years old again. It was yet another source of embarrassment out here because, dammit, he thought he got over being a cry baby years ago! But Guy understood, he could count on Guy to pay attention to him at the very least. Now that Guy was with him there was nothing to worry about. Things could soon go back to normal and he wouldn't have to kill just to survive and Tear wouldn't have to get herself hurt protecting him. He would be back in Baticul in no time—his father probably didn't care all that much, but Mother must have worried herself into sickness at that point. If things went really well, he could hand Mieu off to Mother and get that thing out of his hair.

Once they ran into Master Van by the border, Luke felt even more assured. It nearly made this entire affair worth it. Now, his safe return to Baticul was a sure thing It was beyond annoying that they were essentially forced to head to Choral Castle due to the God Generals causing trouble, but still, Luke had remained optimistic.

'So why the hell did this have to happen??' Luke thought, trying not to have a panic attack as he was dropped none too gently onto a cold, hard surface. He had blacked out earlier, but the sudden jolt from his head landing on some slab brought him back somewhat. He was still groggy and half-conscious, though, and he couldn't really make out just who took him. Luke wanted to save himself, but even he realized that wasn't possible at this point. He finally had to push his pride aside and desperately wish for someone save him—Guy, Master Van...hell, he'd have happily taken Jade at this point.

And he was never coming back to Choral Castle ever again, dammit.

'I can't move! My head hurts...it hurts why can't...' It really was pure luck that he didn't black out again, although he wished he did when there was a loud, thrumming hum as something above him came to life. It hurt his ears and it was achingly bright behind his eyelids. Luke's heart was racing again, just as bad as when he first woke up and realized he was exposed.

He wasn't sure what happened next, but soon there was this horrible pressure on the top of his head, as if something was trying to press through his skull and shoot down his spine. His teeth chattered and his eyes, ears, and tongue throbbed.

Luke wanted to cry.

He must have finally lost it, as the unbearable humming started to become musical to his ears. It was difficult to describe, but he swore it was some kind of bell—similar to the one that he heard from the city every Lorelei Day. A wave of warmth crashed on him and he was being swept away.

He couldn't even keep his thoughts together...he was being submerged in some kind of _feeling_. Luke would have gladly endured one of his usual migraines if it meant retaining his identity.

"_Luke...my precious isofon."_

**********

Lorelei

Out of all the fonon Sentiences of Auldrant, Lorelei was the youngest, coming to being only from the combination of the six existing forces and memory particles that made up the world; of course, all that power meant nothing much now. He/She/It had been trapped and sealed in the core for thousands of years, constantly feeling the pain from those up above.

The loneliness, however, was the worst. It was a very difficult thing not to give into bitterness.

It was that same loneliness that actually moved Lorelei to use the horde of fonons and memory particles it managed to store outside of the Planet Storm. It took years and years, but eventually Lorelei was able to create a manifestation on the physical plane. It was inevitable, in any case, as Lorelei was even more chained to the Score than the humans who lived by it.

But there were rules, as set by Origin eons ago, and that created some unwanted limitations. Lorelei's isofon was human, in the end, who existed on the physical plane and was subject to its laws. He was capable of hyperresonance, as that was dependent on his frequency, but his human form limited just how much and what he could do.

Unfortunately, the hyperresonance alone would be more than enough. Lorelei truly felt the grips of despair then, only able to stand by as time wore on with the knowledge that his/her/its isofon would soon die, triggering the end of the world with him.

The replication of Luke, now Asch, was a pleasant surprise for many reasons. The replica was, in a sense, another child for Lorelei, another being to love as he came from him/her/it-self. It brought Lorelei pleasure where there was little pleasure to be had. Secondly, _Lorelei never saw him coming_. It would be impossible to express the sensations Lorelei felt then, to have something unpredictable happen for the first time in a long time. Hope was a large part of it; Lorelei couldn't do much, but Replica Luke's existence could be the turning point, a way for humanity to redeem itself.

Luke was also composed of seventh fonons, and nothing could have been more perfect. A perfect isofon composed of nothing but his/her/its fonons that could truly be an agent on the physical plane. Lorelei eagerly tried to contact Luke many times, but it was difficult—closed fonslots made it nearly impossible, although Lorelei remained ever hopeful. This could be the time when the cycle of destruction would finally be broken and Lorelei could be free and wild as the others.

He/She/It wasn't sure if Luke's birth was ultimately the cause of what happened, but it was surely nothing but luck that led Lorelei to check on him at that moment on that day. Time flowed differently for Lorelei for a variety of reasons; keeping track of _what_ Luke and Asch were doing in "real-time" was actually pretty difficult. Of the two, Luke was easier to locate than Asch simply because he had remained in the same place for a long time. Now that wasn't the case anymore, and it made Lorelei very anxious.

Why did the human world have to be so small? It was like trying to make contact with an ant, and the only thing that separated said ant from the rest was that it was a different color.

Indeed, it must have been luck that turned Lorelei's attention to a fleeting beam of seventh fonons. The broadcast wasn't even particularly strong, but the frequency was the exact same. Lorelei surged forward (as much as Lorelei _could_ surge anywhere), knowing that Luke was the heart of it. However, there was a clear difference this time.

Luke's slots were wide open. Delighted, Lorelei pushed forward, dimly aware of his/her/its perfect isofon's discomfort. With a little more probing Lorelei could sense a machine (fomicry, replication) as well, at the peak of activity.

This was useful.

Lorelei didn't wait another moment, quickly seizing upon the seventh fonons the machine generated and preventing it from shutting down—just in time, as the synchronization was complete. It didn't take long to feel Asch as well through Luke. For once, he was actually close by, only a meter away from his replica. Who knew if there would be another opportunity for this (actually, Lorelei did and there wouldn't be)? Perfect isofons they may be, but distance was the enemy here, and Lorelei wouldn't be able to do this again unless they took a leap into the core itself. As it stood, there wasn't a lot of time to work with even with using the machine as an enhancer.

Lorelei pulled them closer, thrilled to be able to really _look_ at them for the first time. They were wonderful, as perfect as Lorelei imagined. Luke looked scared and confused, which was understandable. Asch was confused himself, but he hid it better by opting to be angry instead. Also understandable, considering.

Now they were all here, and for the first time in two thousand years Lorelei the Sentience could do something.

**********

Asch the Bloody

Originally, he hadn't meant to be here, but after seeing his impostor for the first time in years Asch decided it would be best to come to Choral Castle. Seeing his replica awakened a sense of urgency within him—in all probability, if that thing was waltzing about his uncle must be planning to send him off to Akzeriuth shortly, especially considering the troubling reports that have been coming in recently. Clearly, the time was drawing closer and he had to prepare. It wasn't that difficult to convince Arietta to follow his orders. She was so angry at the replica's group for killing her "Mother," and so desperate to get Ion back, she willingly went along with what he said. Dist also proved to be ridiculously easy to manipulate. The prospect of working with a perfect isofon and obtaining more data in regards to replication was more than enough to convince him to play along.

Sync, however, was an unforeseen addition, but Asch was used to improvising and thinking on his feet.

Dist was puttering about in his chair, operating the machines with ease. The man was eccentric, and ridiculous, but Asch grudgingly admitted that he did know what he was doing. Sync seemed to be serving as extra support. It was a shame that Asch could barely stand the both of them; otherwise he would have had something to do other than brood while he waited for the process to reach completion.

Raw hatred boiled under the surface of his skin. Asch had to take a deep breath and restrain himself before he took his sword and plunged it through that thing's chest. Asch had great cause to be angry, to be angry at almost everyone and everything—the Score being on the top of his list, with the replica vying for a very close second.

Simply _looking_ at the replica made Asch angry, but now that he was so close he couldn't really stop. It stole his life and everything that was his, lounging about in the lap of luxury while _he_ struggled and suffered. He wasn't looking forward to the synchronization of their fonslots even if it had to be done. The fon machine was becoming more powerful as it warmed up, and Asch could already feel the difference. He mentally gave a slight nudge—there was some resistance, but soon that would be gone.

"Van's going to punish you, you know." Sync didn't sound as if he cared in the least about that, however. Asch grunted in acknowledgment. That was true enough; Van didn't want him anywhere near the replica, and he had already pushed his luck by the trouble he caused at Kaitzur. Oh well, Asch wasn't that eager to blindly obey the man anymore.

"I think that's my concern, wouldn't you say?"

Sync hmphed. "Idiot. What do you hope to accomplish by being here?"

Before Asch could answer, Dist's spoke. "I see. Even the fonon frequency is the same. This is a perfect creation." Asch had to roll his shoulders to dispel the chill running down his spine. Honestly, it was as if the man was actively trying to be creepy. Dist's eyes were hidden behind his glasses, but it was easy to identify the greedy expression on his face as he gazed upon the numbers flashing by on the screen. The replica was now writhing on the platform, although it didn't look as if it was going to come to its senses any time soon. Asch supposed he didn't have to knock the thing stupid when they got it down here, but he couldn't stop himself from giving it a well deserved hit on the head.

"That's not important," Sync snapped as he made his way down to the second level. With Asch there he must have saw little need to hang around. "We have to erase the data before they come back."

"Which will be soon, so hurry up already." Asch gave Dist a glare for good measure. Dist was unimpressed, going so far as to scoff at them.

"Odd. If the data here is that important, you shouldn't have used Choral Castle in the first place."

"That idiot came here on his own." Sync nodded in Asch's direction. Asch shrugged and turned his attention back to the fon machine.

Dist laughed and held up his arms at the sight.

"Marvelous! To think that all of those years would finally be coming to fruition--"

"Celebrate after the process is complete," Sync interrupted, leaning against a terminal with his arms crossed.

"What did you say??"

"Silence!" Asch barked. The order was more for Dist than Sync, as he really wasn't in the mood for Dist's flamboyance.

It had gotten to the point where it was difficult to see due to the glow, but Asch forced himself to look at his replica's face regardless. Was he expecting something? He honestly didn't know.

"The machine is at maximum output," Dist announced gleefully, as if he was too stupid to feel the sudden peak of seventh fonons, "try it now."

Asch nodded once and this time gave a mental shove, not really caring if it hurt.

And he was sucked down a vortex of color and sound.

For a moment, he actually flailed in panic as his mind was suddenly swept up into a flow of seventh fonons. He dimly heard Dist's voice as he shouted something about the machine going haywire before that too disappeared.

'That figures, what did that idiot do??' Asch's surroundings were washed in a brilliant glow. The hum of the machine was replaced by the loud ringing of a bell. It was bearable, but only just. After several long moments, Asch finally managed to get his bearings. He couldn't even tell if he was even breathing or not. He felt he should be, at any rate. He could see, and hear, and he swore there was a floor beneath his feet although he got the strangest sensation that he was making it all up. Asch stared at his hands, now bare, and the rest of his clothing seemed to have disappeared into the ether. Perhaps it should have been embarrassing, but the only emotion Asch could identify was fierce indignation.

"Who are you?" Asch's head snapped up at the question. The replica sat before him, just as naked, and was gaping at him in shock. Asch could feel his mouth twisting into a sneer at the sight of him and his ill-disguised fear. This was his replica? Pathetic!

"This is probably your fault, you piece of trash!"

"W-What?? Who are you??"

Asch had never wanted to strike something so hard in his entire life. Before he could make a move, however, a large force was pressing into his mind, cutting off all speech. Then fear cut through him, and it took Asch a while to figure out that it wasn't his. He did everything he could to stop it and pull back. Asch was never interested in delving this deep into the dreck's mind, but nothing he did worked. Its emotions very nearly swallowed his own, making him irrational and teary eyed.

That was more than enough to give him the strength to push the sensations back into something he could deal with. Like hell _he_ was going to cry!

"_My precious isofons..."_

Asch took a deep breath, surprised to find himself on his metaphysical knees once he came to. He didn't even have to spare a thought wondering about the voice thrumming inside and outside of his head, instinctively knowing who...or what it was. After all, how could _he_ not know, the once Sacred Flame?

The replica groaned and started to paw at his arms and chest. Asch couldn't even summon the energy to fight him off.

'Still, why is Lorelei affecting it this much?' Contact with Lorelei hurt him, too, yes, but he wasn't trying to molest anything either. Was it because the replica was composed of nothing but Lorelei's fonons on top of having its frequency? Asch could only hypothesize.

Lorelei projected dismay then, and concern. Asch scoffed and rolled his eyes.

'Doesn't it realize what its doing?' Lorelei was godlike, and the both of them were drowning in an ocean of sound and memory particles. The only reason Asch could even think straight right now was his iron will. It didn't take a mind probe to know that the replica wasn't so lucky, especially because it was serving as a focal point.

"_I am sorry, I am sorry it hurts but I am weak."_

Asch choked on Lorelei's sorrow before he was once more inundated in warmth—oh, he could place it now. It was overwhelming love. In spite of himself, Asch felt his heart sing in response. He couldn't help it, it was so pure and it had been so long since...

The replica was trying its damnedest to crawl into his skin.

Asch growled and tried to shove, but neither the replica or Lorelei would allow it.

"_There is something you must understand...I have little time left my power is reaching the limit."_

Asch once again felt himself and the replica slide together and it was exceedingly irritating. He wanted to shout at the both of them to stop, that he didn't appreciate not being able to discern where he ended and that piece of dreck began--

They stood in the gardens of their manor in Baticul. In a moment of weakness Asch hid his face in his hands and tried to calm down. This was horrible, his mind was already trying to split at the seams and now Lorelei insisted he develop motion-sickness on top of it.

"I'm so sorry, Asch," the replica whispered, looking properly miserable. The courtyard was entirely empty save for the two of them. Asch couldn't even feel Lorelei, not even at the back of his mind. It was simply the two of them, hearts beating and breathing in unison.

Disgusting.

Asch didn't bother asking how it knew his name, nor what it was apologizing for. All he had to know was that his privacy was thoroughly compromised.

The replica's face twisted and he stared at his feet.

"Yeah...I'm not human, am I? I'm just...I wasn't even meant to be born." Its voice cracked at the end and Asch felt his anger dissipating in the face of it. It was hard to remain steadfast when its feelings were repeatedly crashing into him, threatening to swallow him and it up into one being.

Tears began flowing in earnest, and it desperately tried not to break down in front of him, even though its pride was in shreds and it was in the midst of despair. Its hands rubbed at its eyes and cheeks, but Asch would have seen it all anyway.

"I'm not human! I don't know what to do! I'm a horrible copy!" It slowly descended into a crouch and pulled at its hair, sobbing. At that point Asch could see it all, as the courtyard slowly filled with the ghosts of his old house. He recognized Pere, first and foremost, Guy right beside him (Asch sneered at the sight of him, not about to forgive the bastard any time soon). His mother slowly moved around the edges on her daily walk. His father wasn't there at all, which figured. The maids he didn't recognize, but they had always been replaceable. The ghosts moved about them, the replica in the middle of tutors and servants.

It was nothing like Asch thought it was.

Asch felt everything it did, saw everything it did: but he had the privilege of being able to understand what was happening. In its inexperience, the replica couldn't quite put a finger on the behavior of those around him, sensing only enough to know that it wasn't anything flattering.

There was none of the fawning that Asch expected. Oh, the servitude was there, no mistake, but that was simply the nature of the beast. Asch knew those men—they'd been his teachers since he was able to learn, up until his kidnapping. It made sense that they would be brought back in to start over with the blank slate.

But Asch clearly saw the impatience and frustration as the replica repeatedly failed to live up to Asch's own performance years ago. It wasn't as smart, it wasn't as capable. They didn't know it was a replica, no one in that house did, so they treated each breakthrough as something that was resurfacing from his amnesia. The tutors moved too fast, and when the replica couldn't keep up they became disappointed. They never said it, of course, but they didn't hide it either. The other servants made no attempt to be companions save for Guy and Pere. They couldn't be that open about it, however, as Duke fon Fabre was quick to stop that nonsense whenever he was around to see it.

Asch witnessed it all, as Luke grew up not knowing how to deal with normal people. His mother was ill constantly, Natalia was busy with courtly matters and couldn't visit all that much as she grew older and into her responsibilities. Guy was a good friend, Asch admitted that, but he was still lower in rank so the relationship wasn't exactly equal even if the young man practically raised the replica from scratch. His father was rarely there, and when he was he was distant. Asch knew the reason for that, but it wasn't as if the replica did.

Seeing all this really pissed him off.

For once, his animosity wasn't directed at the replica. Asch watched as it became surly and spoiled with nothing but servants to interact with. His mother felt guilt over the entire situation and doted on the replica when she could, and Guy wasn't that much better, unable to really deny the replica anything or lay down any discipline because he lacked the real authority to do so. And even if he did have the authority, it wasn't as if he was some child-rearing expert who could use it effectively. And the Duke would watch and interfere as little as possible. Why bother, after all, when the child was as good as dead in a few years? Best not get _too_ attached, lest he actually feel remorse that he sent his only son to die like a dog miles and miles away from home, taking tens of thousands of people with him.

Asch's breathing grew heavy and he saw red. He couldn't even hold on to that, not with Luke expressing embarrassment over Asch seeing him mess up time and time again. Finally, Asch sent a mental order for the replica to shut up and let him think. What the hell was he supposed to do now?? It had been easy before! He could hate the damn inhuman thing to his heart's content, sure he had every right in the world to do so. But how could he now when they were so close and inside each other and Asch could see and feel _everything_??

The replica—well, no, _Luke—_reached for him again, looking desperate for his original's approval. Asch accepted the contact this time, allowing its—his—hands to touch his abdomen and pull them closer.

"Master Van saved me where no one else could...but it's the same for you, right?" Luke whispered. He rubbed his cheek against Asch's chest and sighed.

'I don't know what to say—it goes both ways. He must have seen through my eyes. He must know what Van is planning to use him for. He must have heard how Van talks about him behind his back. And yet he still loves the man. Oh, it's almost too rich.' Asch wasn't laughing, though.

Luke saw his life, too. Saw him crawl and scrape for every bit of authority and skill he had today. Saw him suffer and nearly die countless times to get back home, only to find his replacement already there and taking up space. Saw him lose faith in their master when he really sat down and _thought _about what Van wanted to accomplish. Luke was so _sorry_ for it, so pathetically sorry even though he was the last person at fault.

'This must be what Lorelei wanted me to see. Well, fine, terrific, but what is the point? It wasn't like I was going to kill the dreck.' Asch's fingers idly ran through Luke's hair.

Luke pressed his face into his shoulder. "It's too much, Asch."

"Bear with it," Asch said simply. What else could he do? Besides, he wasn't about to coddle Luke anymore than he already was. He may be seven, but that was no excuse and that nonsense was stopping right this second. "You know what I know. Bear with it." Ignorance was bliss, but they were out of time. Asch could feel Lorelei eagerly pressing against their shared consciousness, not wanting, and unable, to wait any longer.

'Why am I dealing with this?'

"Now is not the time to falter, do you understand?" Asch shook him a bit.

"Yes, I do. Please, I want to help you. It's the least I can do. Let me make everything up to you, I'll do anything, please?" Luke's hands were pressing against his back. "Tell me what to do, I'm scared. I don't want to kill anyone!" The knowledge one of them was going to be responsible for such a catastrophe had scared Luke right into obedience. Killing that one soldier in self-defense nearly undid him. The thought of obliterating Akzeriuth and causing a world war absolutely terrified him, and Asch was forced to intervene to keep him from having a panic attack.

Van was willing to let Akzeriuth fall out of revenge, despite Asch's wishes. The problem was he simply didn't know what they could do. The Score would probably find a way to make it happen, right?

The manor faded and Lorelei was upon them once more, concern and love washing over them.

'I'm going to get a damned cavity at this rate.' Asch groused. He was thankful for his very human mind right then. Luke was shivering his arms, looking as if he'd imbibed a high concentration of opium.

"We need to do something, this is a good opportunity." Asch wasn't quite certain if that was solely his thought or if he was picking up on Lorelei's wishes. It was difficult, as the fonon of sound was singing at them and around them. Lorelei thought the two of them were the most gorgeous things it had ever seen.

'As well it should, but it's not helping.'

Lorelei wasn't too sure if Akzeriuth could be avoided (Asch stifled Luke's wail, not unsympathetic per se but there wasn't time), but there was something it could do to give them a better chance of saving themselves and humanity.

Luke managed to collect himself enough to address Lorelei directly.

"Isn't there a way you can become unstuck even with the pact? I mean, it must be very bad down there, and if you could come up and see and help I'm sure you'd feel better at least."

"That goes without saying, Dreck," Asch said, rolling his eyes. Obviously, if they could get Lorelei "unstuck," it would solve a great deal of problems. Luke let the insult roll off his back and settled for pressing closer. If Lorelei had a body it would probably be invading his personal space, too. Resigned (though he wasn't protesting too terribly much), Asch simply let Luke have his way.

Meanwhile, Lorelei was running out of time—the machine was on its last legs and its power was stretching thin. So, Lorelei reached down and into Luke and pushed.

"Is this wise?" Asch felt the need to ask even if Lorelei was determined to press ahead. Lorelei ran through Luke freely, the pleasure and happiness becoming so intense that even Asch was becoming light headed. Naturally, his replica was far worse off, becoming a drooling, euphoric mess. Asch felt irritated at the both of them. Luke should have more self control, and, surely, Lorelei should be displaying more sense at the very least.

Clearly, that wouldn't be the case.

And the sensations were building higher and higher in some odd form of a feedback loop, nearly to the point of being self sustaining. Despite being a scion, Asch was hardly privy to every bit of Lorelei's motives, so it was a great shock to witness Luke _changing_.

"_This is all I can do for now, I'm sorry..."_

Well, Luke and Lorelei really were a lot alike, it seemed, with their constant apologizing. Asch carefully increased his link with Luke and he knew--

Lorelei wanted Luke to be more than just a copy of Asch. Lorelei poured itself into Luke as fast as it dared. It still operated under the pact, but because of Luke and Asch it was finally able to have options after suffering for millennium. Asch could feel its happiness and love even as the sentience known as Lorelei faded.

Lorelei was beyond a great many things: it was a culmination of the first six fonons, it was time, it was the memory of the planet itself among other things. Unlike the other Sentiences, Lorelei was composed entirely of complimentary opposites, simultaneously masculine and feminine, hot and cold, north and south, and so on. It was an incredibly flexible fonon.

Watching Luke change was absolutely fascinating. It never even crossed Asch's mind to be disgusted, even though the body was in his form. The hips became rounder and he was steadily losing muscle mass. Asch was suddenly reminded of those clay fertility statues excavated back in Daath. They were ancient, having been there just as long as Daath existed, perhaps longer. The Order kept their existence secret, stating they were obscene and primitive as they depicted naked women with pronounced hips and breasts. Yet, for some reason they weren't outright destroyed, which was pretty telling as to their significance. As (oh, so that's how he would look like with breasts—should he be upset?) Luke's fonons continued to shift, Asch half wanted to ask just how Lorelei manifested itself in the world before Yulia and the Score.

"_If you really wish to know, Luke can tell you...I was more than the Score, once..."_

Lorelei sounded amused, most likely predicting his reaction to the knowledge.

Lorelei's presence was faint now as the final changes to Luke's body were nearing completion. Its fonons would persist in the Planet Storm and Score (they couldn't get around that), but Lorelei as they knew it would be no more. Lorelei took a small loop hole in the pact and forced it as far as it could go.

'I see,' Asch thought as Lorelei faded, 'I almost forgot you were the also the fonon of healing and resurrection. It's painful for you to personally destroy a future—a bit too close for comfort, isn't it? You needed me to remain the same, your weapon. Should I be upset that I'm once again relegated to doing someone's dirty work for convenience's sake? You're weak, aren't you? How can you have such a powerful fonon and be so weak? I won't stand for that, you realize. I'll make you pull your weight.'

Lorelei accepted that.

Luke was slowly recovering, and Asch barely registered the breasts now pressed against his stomach. He didn't have an issue with the nudity, but he wasn't about to go _inspecting_ anything.

"Asch...can I help you now?" Luke whispered. Asch gave Luke's head a pat.

"Will you do what I say?"

"Mmhmm."

"We have no choice but to wait for now. I realize neither you nor Lorelei can lie to save your lives," which was painfully true in Lorelei's case, "but you need to feign ignorance now. Can you do that? You don't even have to spin any falsehoods; just don't offer any pertinent information. I'll have to leave you with them for now."

"Yes, I can do that." Luke sounded so happy, then, pleased beyond measure that someone finally _needed_ him (her, better get used to that). She reached up and pulled his hands down so she could kiss his palms. She had wanted to kiss his feet, but they were tucked underneath them. Asch made a show of grumbling, although a large part of him was very pleased, and pressed his hand on her sternum.

"Wake up and get us out of here. I am your sword, leave it to me."

"I will." And for a moment Asch heard Lorelei.

*

"Asch?? Dammit, get up! You can't be seen right now!" Asch came to with Sync yelling in his ear. He was slumped over a warm body, ears still ringing from the sound of church bells. Experience kicked in then, and he forced his mind to focus as he quickly took in his surroundings. The place was a mess. What was even left of the machine was around them in smoking ruin. Lorelei must have taken it far beyond its limits.

'At least Lorelei went out with a bang.'

He quickly played dumb. "What the hell happened??"

"I don't know, and that idiot Dist wasn't much help either. Did it work?"

Asch looked thoughtful before nodding.

"Yes, it did—but what the hell happened to the replica?"

"We don't know that either, of course. Dammit, this would happen. Hurry up and follow Dist out of here, I have to find some way to salvage the fon disc out of this mess." Once Sync turned his back, Asch quickly checked on Luke.

Obviously she was no longer nude, but the clothes she wore had been tailored exactly to a male form. Needless to say things would be uncomfortable until they got her something decent. Her eyes were half open and—Asch coughed and fought back a blush.

"Stop that at once, you are seven years old." He gently prodded her face until her expression changed into something not so obscene.

_'I can't help it...it felt really good and I liked it...'_

'I'm going to have to keep track of the both of you, aren't I?'

_'Mm...'_

'Stop that! Now act your age and be good. Damn, have some self control.'

Luke sounded properly contrite in his mind as Asch heaved himself onto his feet. He was dizzy and suffering from a harsh bout of nausea. Still, there was no time to waste. He stumbled towards the exit in the upper corner of the lab, all but diving out of the room the second Guy dashed in from the other side.

Once he recovered, he was going to have to work hard to stay in Van's good graces while finding ways to undermine the man.

_'I'll make you proud, Asch...'_

*********

So ends the first part. Thoughts on my interpretation of Luke and Asch, as well as game concepts in general, will be very much appreciated. All reviews are welcome, naturally :)

From what I can recall, and what I managed to find on the internet (if anyone can provide more accurate info then please let me know), there are very few details on the Dawn Age, Yulia Jue, and the Pact itself. Lorelei the Sentience is a recent discovery, and I think Jade mentioned how some believed it was still theoretical by the time the game starts. From what I understand, the Pact dealt with the creation of the Score, possibly the result of the Planet Storm creating the miasma. How long Lorelei was around before then (I assume since Auldrant began or "soon" after, in planetary terms at least), and how the other Sentiences work seems to be left to interpretation...so that's what I did. :)

[1] Information on the meaning of Lorelei's name is solely attributed to behindthename (dot) com. Awesome site, check it out!


	2. Dealing With It

I'd like to take a brief moment and thank those who have reviewed, favorited, and/or alerted this little piece of madness. Constructive criticism is more than welcome, and I hope you all enjoy.

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Part II: Dealing with It

**********

Luke fon Fabre

After several moments of indecision, Luke decided it would be best if she acted as if she were unconscious the entire time. Hopefully, that would be enough to prevent her from having to lie. Guy would see right through any lie she tried to make, saying nothing of Jade who was downright intimidating.

'Don't think about it, imagining Jade roasting me over a pit for daring to try to deceive him won't help at all.'

So Luke made herself go limp and closed her eyes. Lorelei, well, it wasn't quite Lorelei anymore, hummed in the back of her mind. With her fonslots finally open, energy ran freely within in her and around her. She had no idea just how crippled she was until now. Now, at least, she knew what Tear and Jade were talking about when they mentioned being able to feel fonons; before, they may as well have been trying to explain the color red to someone blind from birth. It made her very excited—it was another way she was useful.

Even with her eyes closed, she could feel everyone's unique fonon frequency. Luke wasn't all that sure _how_ it worked, she just knew that it did. Could Jade and everyone else do the same? Guy, unsurprisingly, was the easiest to pick up. She could even follow his movements as he came leaping to her rescue (she didn't care what Asch thought, Guy was...was awesomer than awesome so _there_). He hadn't examined her too closely yet, but she wasn't looking forward to when he found out what happened. His intense gynophobia ensured Luke wouldn't be able to touch him again, which was depressing.

Luke felt Asch's glee at that thought. She grumbled at him and mentally shooed him off. It wasn't fair, Guy smelled nice and he was comfortable...she hadn't wanted to admit it before when she was the former Luke, but she _liked_ touching him.

Anise's shriek brought Luke back to the present. It was about time—her shirt didn't fit anymore and it was pulling uncomfortably at her new parts. Luke made a show of opening her eyes and coming to, painfully aware that not only could she not lie, she also couldn't act worth a damn. Fortunately, that was the last thing on their minds.

"Luke? Luke?? Are you okay?" Tear was just above her, kneeling over her and checking for any injuries. Anise was too busy gaping at her in horror.

"Oh, Tear..." Luke trailed off, wincing internally at the sound of her voice. It was one thing to _know_ she was female—it was quite another to experience it. Luke never had the deepest or manliest of voices (Asch snapped at her for that one), but she would have had to have been hard of hearing to miss it moving higher in pitch.

More importantly, how the hell did Tear move with these things anyway? Were they _supposed_ to flop like that?

"Are you hurt?" Tear continued. Luke didn't have a lot of experience with human expressions (Lorelei didn't either, and all of this was ridiculously fascinating), but she got the feeling that Tear was trying not to alarm her.

Luke attempted to sit up, and if it wasn't for Tear supporting her shoulders she would have tipped over onto the floor. Jade finished whatever he was doing by what was left of the terminal and approached them, his face totally unreadable. He examined her closely, never touching her but still making her squirm uncomfortably. He was so scary! How could she lie convincingly to him? Asch said she had to, so she'll just have to do her best.

"Luke, what happened?" Jade wasted no time in starting his interrogation. Luke opened her mouth and closed it. Nothing was coming to mind—nothing useful.

She settled for half truths.

"I was hooked to this machine...and...it's hard to describe." It definitely was. "My head hurt very badly, and I felt something in me move."

"Explain."

'I'm not fooling him at all what do I do?'

"It just...it felt good. It felt very nice and then I was like this." True enough. Jade slowly blinked, clearly noticing the lack of detail. Luke gave him a helpless look and rubbed her face, as if to say she just as perplexed as he was. Her reputation for ignorance was actually coming in handy, here. They knew not to expect much from her.

"That's all? Did you hear anything? See anything?"

"I only heard something about synchronization and fonslots before I passed out." Again, technically true. "Do you know, Jade? How I changed into this?"

Luke half wondered if he would tell her that she was a replica; instead, he shook his head and turned away, frowning thoughtfully. Anise finally managed to shake herself out of her stupor.

"You have boobs!" Anise dashed up and peered closer, as if it were all some optical illusion. Guy choked from his position on the other side of the walkway.

"Yes...I'm...I don't think it's sunk yet." Luke cocked her head to the side when Anise hesitantly poked one.

"Don't invade his personal space like that, Anise!" scolded Tear, looking slightly appalled. Anise huffed.

"Well, I had to make sure they were real! I mean, look at them! They're a pretty good size—and oh gosh! Luke! Did you also lose your--"

"_Anise_!!"

Luke blinked before gasping in comprehension. It occurred to her that she had never seen _girl_ parts before.

So she promptly tugged on the waist band of her pants and peered down.

"Oh, yes, it's gone."

"Luke!"

Guy was having a fit (poor thing), and Ion was respectfully looking off to the side, face a deep red.

_'I told you to act your age, Dreck!'_ Asch sounded torn between fury and embarrassment.

'I was just curious! I've never seen a girl's thing, don't be silly.' Luke paused. 'Have you ever seen one? If you haven't, you can look at mine--'

_'You're seven! Stop that!'_

Luke sighed and took a second look. She was dying of curiosity, but she couldn't really see and she wasn't so brazen as to rip her pants off. She had more class than that, thank you.

"Um, is it supposed to look like that, though?"

"Like what, Master?" Mieu asked, not seeing the big deal.

"Well, it's hard to describe--"

"Don't describe it, Luke." Guy sounded pained. He stepped closer, but still stood a fair distance away—farther than he usually did. Luke could see the faint tremors in his hands.

'Guy...'

"Wow..." Anise put her hands on her hips. "This must have been some kind of machine. But why would your family have something like this here? I don't really see the point."

Luke shrugged, running her fingers across the slab she sat on. The fon machine had originally spanned two floors in height; now, it, along with a nice chunk of the adjacent walkways, lay scattered around the chamber. She could still feel the remnants of seventh fonons on the metal.

"I don't really know all that technical stuff, but I don't think the machine was supposed to do this," Luke commented, carefully standing on her feet. It took her a moment, but she managed to adjust somewhat to her new center of gravity. Her sword, however, hung uncomfortably on her hips. And she didn't remember it being that heavy. That didn't bode well at all.

"You're probably right. Aww, but this means we can't get married."

Luke looked confused. "Oh? Why not?"

"Oh, Luke! So it's like that, huh?"

"Wait, what? Like what?"

"Hmm...well, there's nothing to be done for now. If Luke is unharmed and able to walk, we should get back to the roof. I hate running around like this but we have no choice." Jade may as well have been making note of the weather.

"Yes, you're right." Guy hesitated and made as if to say something to her, but in the end he headed for the stairs toward the cliffs outside. Luke sighed, already upset.

It would be easy, she thought, to access some of the memory particles that made up Lorelei and find out the source of Guy's pain. With a bit of time she could...

But was it the right thing to do? There was a line between wanting to help and just invading someone's privacy without them knowing.

"Are you sure you're well, Luke?" Ion asked. He had noticed her unsteady gait as she tried to adjust to a new form. He was even keeping pace with her to help her in case she fell (which was nice of him, although it wasn't as if he would have the strength to catch her).

Luke grinned weakly and nodded.

"I'm okay, I don't hurt, it's just...weird."

"I imagine so. I'm sorry, all of this happened because--"

"It's okay." Luke didn't want Ion to worry or feel bad. "I don't mind. It's weird, but I don't mind."

"Is that so?" asked Jade. He looked over his shoulder and Luke got the impression he figured something out. What it was and how, she had no idea, but Jade simply made her that paranoid. Luke gave him a stern look.

"That is so." She tugged her pants up as they were trying to slide right off her hips. Her belt was more for decorative purposes than practical, so it wasn't that much help.

And it was so strange, not to have something hanging down there anymore. Luke couldn't stop rubbing her thighs together because she couldn't stop thinking something _should_ be there. To make it worse she couldn't even button up her coat anymore. Damn shame, she really liked it.

But the difference between her old body and this one became very apparent by the next monster attack.

There wasn't an issue in the beginning; Luke unsheathed her sword with relatively the same ease as before. She didn't have the same amount of power, but she could still attack even with her pants trying to fall down and her boots flopping a bit on her feet (but how the hell did Tear manage to fight without her things going every which way? It was painful! Was there some secret to it? Secrets of the Breasts that she was unaware of?). However, the difference in upper body strength was too much for her, and she was forced to retreat and let Guy take care of the rest. She rubbed her aching wrist, frustrated. Her sword of choice was around three and a half pounds, but now the balance felt wrong and her stature had changed, making it seem clumsy and heavy in her grip. Luke had only begun instruction in swordplay three years ago; it was difficult enough switching to a metal blade when she had only used wooden swords before, but this was just plain irritating! She was going to have to train her body all over again. Tear attended to her immediately after the battle before the sprain could get worse. Luke sourly noted that _her_ chest was behaving itself.

"You okay, Luke?" Guy asked. Luke perked up immediately and nodded.

"I am! Um..." She trailed off and gave him an uncertain look.

Guy scratched his head, looking just as unsure as she felt. He was now somewhat within arms' reach. It made her feel a lot better to see that he was willing to try to get close despite his phobia. If she didn't startle him, maybe everything will work out.

"Yeah...sorry. Just...oh man, what will your father say?"

'Oh...never considered that.'

"He'll be okay." He was going to let her go to Akzeriuth regardless.

Guy blinked in surprise and nodded.

"Alright. It'll just take some time getting used to." He wasn't quite able to help her up, but he did hover a bit when Tear finished with her.

"I know. I'm glad you want to."

Guy was now gaping at her, and the others were obviously trying to figure out if the machine also gave her a personality transplant as well.

'Is it really so surprising? Man, everyone's being so unfair! Well, except for Ion...he looks pretty out of it as usual.'

Old habits died hard, but Luke had resolved to improve herself. There was no way she could continue acting the way she did after what she'd seen and experienced, if only secondhand. It would bring up a lot of questions, but Luke just didn't have it in her to be that way anymore. Besides, she also owed Guy for being such a wonderful friend. He put up with a lot from her; he deserved better, so she was going to give it to him come hell or high water.

Still, dammit, did they have to look at her as if she was about to grow horns or something?

Guy cleared his throat. "Well, it's nothing. We're going to have to get you a lighter class of sword. I'll take point for now, okay?"

"Okay, that's fine. It's a good idea."

"...Right."

'He'll get used to it eventually.'

Luke carefully turned her wrist, pleased that it was no longer bothering her.

"Thank you for healing me, Tear."

"I...you're welcome."

"And I'm sorry I've been so mean before. With what happened so far, I was just angry at you for breaking into my father's home and trying to assassinate Master Van. Getting blasted into Malkuth territory didn't help much, either."

Tear looked vaguely embarrassed, and nodded.

"It's fine, I understand. I can see that it would be hard to trust someone after that."

"Oh, but I do trust you now." Luke was determined to make her see it. "You're a competent soldier, for one thing, so I know I'm in good hands." Now Tear was turning a bright shade of pink. Before Luke could ask why that was, Anise interrupted them.

"Ooh, ooh, what about me, Luke? Since you're being so nice and all." Anise hopped forward and put on her best smile. Luke deliberately paused and looked thoughtful.

"Oh, well, Anise...you're...perky?"

Anise pouted. "Boo, Luke, that's not funny."

"And Ion's very reliable. And Jade is--"

"Yes?" Jade interrupted, sounding much too cheerful for her comfort.

"Frightening." He did it on purpose, she was positive about that.

"Frightening, Luke? Not at all. But we're going to have to cut this short." They had paused on the last flight of stairs that led to the roof. Guy stepped forward, his hand on the hilt of his sword.

"Okay, she'll probably use that flying monster to attack again. After that, I want you to stay with Ion, Luke."

Luke grumbled before she could stop herself. Sure, it was the practical thing to do, since she didn't know any fonic artes at the moment and her weapon was simply too heavy for her. Still, she wanted to be useful! She spent her entire damn life doing nothing more than disappoint people.

"Okay, Guy. Please be careful."

Guy shook his head. "We're going to have to have a talk later, Luke."

'What does that mean? Am I still doing something wrong?'

Guy dashed up the steps, and as he predicted, the monster bird was waiting for them. He gave two quick slashes with his blade, cutting into the scaly flesh on the bird's feet and driving it backwards. The group took that opportunity to advance as well.

"You...you cut my friend! I'm really gonna make you pay, now!" Arietta placed a hand on the bird's feet; Guy hadn't managed to get through the tough skin, but Arietta still looked dismayed at the damage.

Anise scoffed. "Do you think we're scared? There's more than that came from! Don't you know how much trouble you caused?"

"I don't care! I'm going to kill you all and take back Ion! You killed Mommy! Now, you die!"

"She would have killed us otherwise!" Luke hoped she could reason with her, although it was very unlikely.

"So???" Oh, well, that was that, then.

"Don't bother, she's going to be stubborn." Anise enlarged Tokunaga and charged forward with a battle cry.

"Oh damn...Ion, come over here." Luke carefully took his arm; she was half afraid of accidentally breaking him. Ion nodded in agreement and allowed himself to be tugged to the side.

"What Arietta did was horrible, but still..."

"What? Did something happen to her?" asked Luke.

Ion bit his lip and nervously wrung his hands. He seemed to be debating over something.

"Well, it's very complicated."

"Oh. I understand."

Something in her tone made him wince slightly.

"I do want to tell you, but it's confidential and it has to do with..." Ion trailed off, and Luke idly noted that part of her still wanted to throw a tantrum over not being told something. She struggled a bit to control herself.

'I guess it was stupid to think that absorbing Lorelei would be easy. How could Lorelei deal with so many conflicting forces?' Luke pressed a hand to her temple, trying to reconcile the memory of her past self with her new identity, on top of all the things the Sentience had been composed of. The frequencies of the others were also interfering, probably since they were now in the heat of battle.

For a moment, she forgot that she was on top of the roof of Choral Castle, even with a fierce battle only meters away. She forgot that she was Luke and what she was doing and that she had a body to begin with--

_'Dammit, Dreck! Wake up!'_ Asch's voice brought her back into herself.

'Oh, Asch! Are you okay?'

_'Moron, asking _me _if I'm okay.'_ Judging from his grumpiness he must have been fine. _'I told you to have some self control. It's imperative that you do...you're no longer dealing with yourself.'_

'I know, it's just hard to--'

_'Pay attention!!!'_

"Luke, move!" The liger had somehow managed to break through the others, pushed forward from the momentum of Anise's fonic artes. It recovered much faster than anyone expected and charged right at the distracted Luke. Guy attempted to come to her aid, but was intercepted by the flying monster. The liger would be on her before Jade would be able to finish his incantation.

'Oh you have to be kidding me!' Ion would fine, no monster of Arietta's would lay a paw or talon on him. They'd rip _her_ throat out in a heartbeat, of course.

She gripped her sword and wrenched it from its sheath. Her arm ached but she didn't have a choice. She should be able to hold on long enough until one of the others could help.

_'I can't leave you alone for a second, can I??'_ Asch suddenly surged into her, much like Lorelei did earlier. The feeling of completion was wonderful, amazing, but Asch ignored it and he threw her body to the side just as a massive paw swiped the air where her head was seconds previously. As Luke thought, the liger followed her and ignored Ion completely. The evasion gave Jade's Splash enough time to form and slam into the liger's body, but it managed to shake off the weakened arte and simply continued to advance, relentless.

Then she felt Asch draw the fifth fonons from the air around them.

It was just like Tear said earlier, even though Luke hadn't understood at the time.

'Open your body's fon slots...draw in fonons and join them together with your fonon frequency by using a verse...'

_'Speak.'_ The order was harsh and Asch didn't bother elaborating. Regardless, she still knew what to do. She raised her arm and Asch helped her direct the fonons to converge on the area before her.

"Bring all to ashen ruin..." His murderous intent suddenly spiked and, alarmed, Luke pulled back at the last moment. "Explosion!!" The resulting arte was more powerful than either expected. The area was bathed in light and Luke cringed as the heat washed over her. The liger let out a piercing cry and collapsed, burned black. It's fur was smoking and a good portion had melted into its skin. Asch was still poised in her mind, ready to strike again even when it was clear that the liger wasn't going to attack anything soon. Luke gagged a bit from the awful smell and turned away.

_'If you didn't interfere we could have killed it. Will you not kill even a monster, now? Think, Dreck....when will you finally learn your lesson? When one of your friends gets mauled? When a soldier stabs you in the back because you showed mercy? You heal, yes, but death is also a part of life. Don't act so pathetic and deal with it.'_ Luke flinched, and she could feel a part of her protest that she had felt too much death already, but Asch plowed on, determined. _'I am your sword, true, but a sword is useless if the wielder doesn't even try to protect their own life! Don't bother having one if you're afraid to use it and let it _be _used. Even a Sentience can die, remember that.'_ Then he seemed to take a deep breath and she felt him rub his fingers through her hair. It wasn't an apology, but he was trying to lessen the sting. It was a vast improvement as far as Asch was concerned.

'I'm sorry.'

_'Don't. You can say your apologizes until you're blue in the face and still keep doing the exact same thing. Show me instead.'_

'I will.'

"Luke are you okay?" Ion gently shook her arm.

"I...I'm fine."

Arietta gave a pained shriek. It must have looked awful to her, having her friends and family cut down one by one. Luke couldn't help but feel guilty.

"No! How dare you do that to him?? I'll kill you!"

Jade, however, wasn't inclined to pity. He used his spear to sweep her legs out from under her, sending her crashing onto the stone.

"I knew letting her live would come back to haunt us." He raised the point of his spear, only to stop when Ion rushed forward and put himself between them.

"Wait! I'll take Arietta back for an inquiry before the Order of Lorelei. So, please, don't take her life..."

"Yes." They all turned at the sound of Van's voice. "That would be best."

"Master Van!" Luke greeted cheerfully. Despite everything, she was so happy to see him she could barely contain herself.

_'Even when we share a soul I don't understand you.'_

'He raised me and taught me. I'll never stop respecting him, if nothing else.'

_'Fine, just don't forget what he wants to do.'_

'Of course I won't.'

"Luke...what on earth??" The usually unflappable Van looked downright flummoxed. His eyes were wide and seconds away from popping right out of his head. It was so comical Luke had to block Asch's cackling from her mind before she dissolved into laughter herself.

"Er, something happened."

"I can see that! I can only imagine--are you well, Luke?"

"Mmhmm! I'm fine, just...well, I'm fine." She beamed at him and held up an arm. Van stared at her for a moment longer before shaking his head.

"If you say so. I'll drop it for now, but I can't help but think how upset your father is going to be." He sighed and briefly pinched the bridge of his nose. "In any event, there was no word of the Fon Master's arrival in Kaitzur, so I came here just in case."

Ion's face fell. "I'm sorry Van."

"Well, there's no point in dwelling on what's already been done. I'll take Arietta into my custody, is that all right with you?"

"Yes, please do. And please treat her wounds." Van nodded and walked past Jade to where Arietta lay on the ground. He picked her up with ease, making sure to support her head.

Guy spoke up then. "How do you plan to explain her crimes to His Majesty and the military?"

"We will follow proper Order procedure, punish her, and issue a report. That's how lawful society operates," Ion stated, voice firm.

'Nothing good would come of outright killing her, and I'm glad we're not...' Luke glanced at Jade. It didn't help, he was once again unreadable. Was he upset? After all, those were his soldiers that got eaten by monsters. 'Asch was there, too...he's killed a lot, hasn't he?' She already knew the answer to that.

"I have soldiers and a coach from Count Almandine, the Kaitzur commander. I'll escort the maintenance chief home as well." Van turned to Ion. "What will you do, Ion? I'd prefer you to come with me, but..."

Ion lightly tapped his chin. Luke was surprised when he looked at her for guidance.

"It seems some of us are interested in this castle..."

"Well, personally, I kind of want to walk back. Once we get on the ship, we'll be in Baticul in no time anyway, right? Besides, there are some...things I want to try. But it's not fair for me to decide alone, so..." Luke trailed off to look at the others for their opinions.

Van slowly blinked, once more showing his surprise. He looked at Guy who shrugged in response.

'Oh come on, was I really that bad?'

_'You know you were. Still, it can't be helped. I have to go, don't make me have to come back to save your hide. You're getting in my way and if you keep it up I'll strike you myself.'_ Asch gave her a mental nudge before leaving.

'He's so kind.' Luke thought happily.

"Well, the route does have us stopping in Chesedonia along the way," Guy commented.

"I don't mind walking! It'll be better than a stuffy carriage," Anise said, bouncing a bit on her heels. Tear shrugged, showing that she was also neutral, while Jade didn't even do that much. Luke wasn't crazy enough to call his attention onto herself by pressing him, though.

"...It seems we would prefer walking. We'll catch up to you later." Ion smiled gently at Van, as if to apologize for going against his preferences.

If Van was upset, he didn't show it. "Understood. Please take care." He began to walk to the exit, with Arietta's monsters painfully following. Luke was surprised to see that the liger still had enough life in it to hobble after its master.

"I'm glad that's over," she sighed, rubbing her cheek. Now that everyone's frequencies weren't actively colliding with the fonons in the air she could think more easily.

"Mm. By the way, Luke, I didn't know you could use fonic artes." Jade gave her a sidelong glance, sounding almost excessively casual. "And that was a powerful one as well..."

'Oh crud. And Asch complains about me not thinking.'

"Yeah, that's right." Guy also decided to make things difficult for her. "I know you never learned that back in the manor, and it takes a while to get the hang of it."

"I just...did it." Luke waved her arms, trying to hold off their queries. Not that that helped.

Jade crossed his arms. "Is that so? I might have been able to accept that explanation if you had actually used a fon verse you're familiar with, but I don't recall ever using that arte around you."

"Luke didn't have experience with it, no." Tear added.

'First they think I'm crazy and now they're ganging up on me. With friends like these...' Luke sighed, not that upset but wondering how she was going to do what Asch said when he himself forced her hand. 'And he's conveniently gone when I'm dealing with the mess. He better be glad I like him.'

Finally, Luke had to say something to get them off her back.

"It just came to me, okay? I remembered what Tear said on the Tartarus on opening fon slots and gathering fonons and stuff, and so the verse sort of...entered my head." Silence prevailed for several long moments, long enough for Luke to want to hide her face from shame. She knew she couldn't lie, Asch told her she couldn't lie, but even she was surprised just how hopeless she was at it!

"It _entered your head_?" Anise gave her a dubious look.

Well, she couldn't take it back now.

"Yeah!...The words just came out and then I used it." Jade was once again examining her like she was something under a microscope. With what he knew about replication and hearing about her synchronized fon slots, Luke was hoping he'd draw his own conclusions and leave her alone.

"We probably won't figure out more than that," Jade said, adjusting his glasses, "as for now, let's head back. I do hope that _convenient_ ability of yours continues, Luke."

'He's filed it away for later. He'll be watching me...'

Damn, Jade made her really paranoid.

*

Technically, there were no real "parts" to Luke's identity. It wasn't so simple as to say, oh, fifty percent was Luke and the other was what made up Lorelei. What was once a fragment now housed the entirety of the greater soul itself. She couldn't really hear Lorelei anymore, not the way she used to; all she received now were general impressions and feelings because, well, they were now hers.

And they often conflicted.

As the group headed down the dirt road back to the Kaitzur Naval Port, Luke examined the world around her with fresh eyes. She took deep breaths just to feel the air fill her lungs and ran her fingers along the grass as if she was seeing it for the first time. Luke was torn between her mild case of agoraphobia and wanting to shoot off somewhere, anywhere, because it's been so long.

She even wanted to rip her clothes off; she nearly _did_, fortunately stopping when Mieu asked what she was doing.

'I'm going to go crazy if this keeps up!' The others had pretty much ignored her odd behavior, apparently giving up on figuring her out for now. Anise, Ion and Mieu were more than happy to indulge her, though, and they had quite the time running about. Even Guy could be coaxed into joining in occasionally, although Anise's teasing quickly had him cowering by Jade when it came to be too much.

Luke hadn't really appreciated the world before. She had simply been too selfish to care about things that didn't affect her. Now, she wanted to see things, try things, feel things. It was really something to look forward to, something both she and Lorelei shared, which made existing a lot easier.

It was starting to get late in the afternoon by the time they reached the Kimlascan Base at Kaitzur. The ship was already undergoing repairs, thanks to the maintenance chief, but they wouldn't be able to leave right away. Instead, they were directed to Count Almandine's quarters where Master Van awaited them.

"Fon Master." Van greeted them in his usual solemn manner. The other man present, presumably the Lieutenant General Count Almandine, was staring at her with ill disguised shock. He was a distinguished middle aged man, a little on the stocky side with graying hair fashioned into a military buzz cut. Luke sensed faint recognition from Asch: Almandine had apparently visited the manor when he was young. He was a consummate military man, spending his entire adult career in the military, working his way up with nothing more than fierce loyalty and merit. He had learned the mannerisms of court well, but his blatant gaping seemed to undo all that hard work. Then again, his breach of etiquette could be excused given the situation. After a moment, Asch hummed his approval. Almandine was competent and loyal—he could be used.

Van continued on as if there was nothing out of the ordinary.

"I have already informed Count Almandine about the incident with Arietta...as well as Luke's unfortunate...accident."

Almandine cleared his throat and shook his head.

"I apologize. Van had told me about what happened but to _see_ it...well, Fon Master, I hope I can expect Daath to deal with the matter in good faith."

Ion nodded. "Please forgive my servant's mistakes." It said a lot about Ion's influence that Count Almandine was willing to leave the matter at that. He nodded, looking fairly satisfied.

Watching Ion flex his political muscles (the only ones he had, really) was pretty boring, and Luke once again found her attention wavering. She had enough trouble with her attention span without the addition of Lorelei into her being. Van saw that she was quickly losing interest and carefully touched her shoulder, always mindful of physical boundaries.

"I noticed at Choral Castle that your new form was," he paused, trying to find a tactful way to say that her clothes had become borderline indecent, "causing some issues with your wardrobe."

"I'll say. Jade said I wasn't allowed to swing my sword anymore until I got a bigger shirt...not that I could swing it for very long anyway." Luke blinked when Guy groaned and Jade and Tear gave her that _look_, the one she noticed would appear when she said or did something stupid.

She got it a lot.

Luke pouted slightly, a little offended at the way Anise was snickering at her while Count Almandine gave a slight cough.

"I can see how that could be a problem." Van actually looked faintly amused. "I had someone look for a suitable alternative, and this is the best we could find." He picked up a bundle off a nearby chair and handed it to her. It was a steel gray jumpsuit, made of thick, rough fabric. She had seen a couple of engineers wearing it when they passed by the dock. It probably was the only thing they had around here; it was either this or a spare uniform.

Almandine smiled kindly at her.

"You can change in the bathroom at the inn. As a matter of fact, the ship will be leaving tomorrow, so please get some rest here in port tonight."

"Thank you," Ion said.

"I'll go get changed." Luke tucked the jumpsuit under her arm and escaped outside before anyone could stop her. She knew it was rude, but...

Luke slipped into the inn bathroom a minute later and locked the door behind her. She gave a sigh and placed the clothing on the sink. She kicked off her boots and with a slight tug her pants and boxers fell to her ankles. Her beloved coat was next, followed by the black belly shirt. Luke took a deep breath to steel herself and looked in the mirror.

The inn bathroom mirror wasn't all that great, and it only showed her body from the breasts up. Luke tilted her head to the side, examining herself with a critical eye. She, personally, had never seen a nude female body before, so she wasn't all that sure what was good or not. She raised her hands and hesitantly cupped her breasts. Warm (obviously) and a lot softer than she thought. Luke didn't think she was big as Tear, but it was difficult to figure out since she was still taller and heavier. Were bigger ones better? It seemed that way, judging from what she overheard some of the guards back home say when they were on their break. Smaller ones seemed to be better for battle though. Still, Tear didn't seem to have half the problems she did! Luke was really going to have to ask about those secrets later.

Luke pressed her hands against her hips, noting the difference there, before frowning when her eyes landed on the area between her legs. She hummed slightly, trying to figure out the best way to do this in a cramped bathroom.

Speaking of bathrooms, what was she going to do when she finally had to _use_ it?

Luke sighed and rubbed her face. She ought to be upset.

'But this is the body Lorelei gave me. This is the body I need to compliment Asch.' Luke reached forward and pressed her fingers to the mirror. 'How can I be angry when this is what Lorelei, no, I need? It's hard to wrap my head around, but at the same time it fits. I am Lorelei now, and Asch is mine.' Luke felt a surge of warmth with that thought. Asch was hers.

Best to keep that to herself for the time being, though.

This wouldn't be so bad. She had started out an ignorant copy, an inferior imitation of the real thing. What was a little sex change in the face of finding a purpose? Of being needed? Now if only she and Guy could have that closeness again everything would be fine, really.

'Well, not _fine_, not until I stop being one step away from forgetting who I am...I'll have to get the hang of it, though, I can't be a burden anymore.' With that Luke pressed her hands to her thighs and looked down at herself. 'Oh, wow, it really is different down there!' Lorelei (herself? Lorelei? Argh, whatever!) was amused at her behavior. It was weird, different, but not in a bad way.

"Luke, are you okay?" called Tear from the room beyond. She knocked politely on the thick wooden door.

"Oh, I'm fine! One second!" Luke tugged her boxers back on and stepped into the jumpsuit. The length was fine, as she made for a tall woman, but the shoulders and waist were too broad. There was enough room in the fabric for her assets, so Luke was content with that.

She opened the door and peeked out. The others were all there, lounging around the small room. Ion was already in bed, being fussed over by Anise. Jade was deep in thought and looked completely unapproachable. Guy was right beside him, as if the Colonel were some kind of buffer against the group of women on the other side of the room.

'Wow...every day must be an experience for him.'

"Oh, Luke, that won't do at all!" Anise cried. Once she got over her initial shock, she treated her just the same as ever, without the excess flirting.

For now. You never really knew with Anise. Still, aside from Mieu, she was probably the one least bothered by the strange turn of events.

Luke looked perplexed. "What won't?"

"That outfit. Look at you!"

Luke crossed her arms, feeling a little self-conscious.

"Well, it's not the most stylish thing, I know--"

"I can't wait to get to Chesedonia." Anise bounced on the bed and beamed mischievously. "We're going to have to get you some proper clothes, aren't we?"

Dread filled Luke then, and she looked around for help.

"Th-That won't...I can wait until Baticul. There's plenty of money there and--"

"Luke, this may have escaped your notice, but you can't go without the essentials much longer."

'So there _are_ secrets! I knew it!' Luke felt a little proud of herself before she remembered that Anise was plotting on her.

Anise shook her head. "I mean, how are we going to explain it to your parents? Not only were you woman-ified on our watch, but you went poked your eye out with your own brea--"

"Anise." Tear sent her a stern look. "What she means to say is that it would be better if we took care of this as quickly as possible. If something else happens we need to be prepared. Don't worry, it's painless."

"Oh...well, that's good, then. I can sell my clothes for the money we'll need. The fabric is expensive and they're not that damaged." Luke folded them up as best she could before setting them aside on a table. She'd have to make sure they didn't get any worse if she wanted them to get sold. She needed a new sword, too.

'And soon we'll be in Baticul...Asch is right, there really is no time!' Luke must have been frowning, as Mieu nudged her leg.

"Are you okay, Master?"

"Y-Yeah...hey, what do they have for food around here?"

"There's a cafeteria in the next building. We should get some dinner. Ion, I'll bring something back for you, stay here, okay? " Anise ordered. Ion smiled and settled further into the sheets.

"If you say so, Anise."

"Come on, Colonel, a lady needs an escort, doesn't she?"

"True enough, but Tear seems to be capable of looking after herself and I'm sure Guy won't let Luke walk around unsupervised--"

"Boo! You can be so mean, you know." Despite his teasing, Jade followed Anise out the door, putting whatever thoughts he was stewing over on hold for the time being.

'Thanks a lot, Jade.'

"I'm heading out as well. Keep Ion company, Mieu." Luke didn't even bother taking her sword with her. Mieu nodded and hopped onto the bed beside Ion.

"Yes, Master!"

"Before that, Luke, can you follow me for a bit?" Guy was smiling at her, but Luke knew him long enough to know that he was treating the situation very seriously. Luke nodded and trailed after him, making sure not to come too close. The distance wasn't all that large, but there may as well have been a chasm between them.

They didn't leave the base entirely, but they managed to find a private spot by the barracks. It was later than Luke thought, with the sun mostly set behind the horizon and a few stars were already making an appearance in the sky. Guy leaned against the wall, his arms crossed as he studied her silently. Luke felt a little self-conscious as she sat on a small crate. She leaned her elbows against her knees and waited.

"You know, a part of me feels pretty ashamed right now. I can't even tell if you're suffering or not, but...I know I'm making you upset by keeping away. Despite that, I can't get close to you." Guy paused, trying to find the right words. He ended up shrugging and he gave her a soft look. It was just like before in Baticul, before this entire mess started. She could almost see the walls of her bedroom around her, bright in the daylight, and Guy would be there on his usual perch on her window. If she concentrated hard enough, she could even feel the comforter beneath her hands and--

"Luke, Luke!!" She snapped back to the present, gasping for breath and her head throbbing. Guy had managed to get closer than ever, his hands poised just above her head.

"Um, what happened?" Luke asked. Guy pressed his lips together, looking tense.

"My mind must have been playing tricks on me...that's all." Then he realized just how close he was and jumped back with a yelp. Luke couldn't help but laugh at him, forgetting about the tense atmosphere that was pressing on them a second ago.

Guy took a deep breath. "Yeah, laugh it up...anyway, I just want to know what's going on with you, Luke. You're not acting like yourself."

"Do you...not like it?" Luke never even considered that, but surely that couldn't be the case? She didn't have the best of attitudes.

"No, it's not that. As a matter of fact, I'm impressed. You're acting a lot better than I would have, that's for certain." He paused and gave a pronounced shudder. "I'm just trying to figure out how you can change so much in the fifteen minutes you were gone. At first, I thought you were some kind of impostor or something."

'Some would say you aren't far off the mark.'

"Really, Guy?"

"For a bit. But after watching you for the past seven years of your life--"

'My entire life...'

"--and there are a lot of little things you do that can't be copied. While your new maturity isn't a bad thing, it just came out of nowhere. You're still you, but...something's just different, and I can't put my finger on it."

For a long moment, Luke seriously considered disregarding what Asch said and telling Guy everything. She certainly trusted him with her life, why couldn't she trust him with this? It was right on the tip of her tongue to spill it all to him. Asch would have none of that, however, and forcefully stopped her. He was practically oozing distrust. Luke sighed sadly and edited her answer. She'd be able to tell him one day.

"It's partly because of you, you know."

Guy's eyes widened and he scratched the back of his neck.

"I'm not following."

Luke blushed, trying to find a way to say this without sounding..._cheezy_.

"Er, well, I realized something when I was kidnapped again. You're a wonderful person, Guy, and I'm very lucky to have you. I...I can always count on you, you know. You've never let me down, not once and...I realized that I didn't deserve it."

"Luke..."

"I know I was an awful brat. I still sort of am if I don't watch myself. I guess I wanted to show you that you aren't wasting your time. And, well, I want to be there for you, too. No matter what."

Luke didn't expect Guy to wince and grit his teeth.

"Luke, I—oh man, I really didn't deserve that."

_'Damn right you don't.'_ Asch wouldn't be swayed.

Luke gave him a look. "Yes, you do."

"No, I don't."

"You do, so there. You're not telling me anything different."

"Luke--"

"Guy. Shut up."

Guy chuckled and shook his head.

"I see that stubbornness hasn't changed one bit." He gave her a bright smile. Luke was practically beaming at him.

_'Oh stop that before I throw up.'_

'For someone who says not to bother him, you sure are providing a lot of running commentary. And it's what you get if you're going to eavesdrop.'

"You're probably hungry, right?" Guy's voice interrupted their conversation. "Let's get you something to eat."

"Thanks, Guy."

Guy nodded. "No matter what happens, I'll be here, okay?"

"I know."

The rest of the night had passed uneventfully, and when Luke woke up the next morning the others were already up and out of the room. She huffed in irritation and kicked the covers off her legs. Why didn't anyone wait for her? Not even Guy waited! He can't touch her or stand too close, but still--

No, she should stop expecting Guy to adjust his life to suit her wants. She was going to get this down eventually, dammit.

The Katsbert Ferry was already stocked and ready to go by the time Luke stumbled down to the port. She rubbed her eyes and stifled a whine. By Rem, the sun wasn't even completely up! Once this was all over (and by over she meant fixing Auldrant, not apocalypse over), she wasn't going to miss getting up at the crack of dawn.

"There you are, sleepy head! We can't leave without you, you know!" Anise looked a little too energetic so early in the morning. Luke rubbed her eyes and yawned.

"Sorry, I'm used to Guy getting me up..." She tried not to sound whiny, but it came out anyway.

"Well, he did try." Anise gleefully pointed to Guy, who was leaning against a crate and muttering under his breath. "He said he was going to get over his phobia even if it killed him. He actually managed to put a finger on your shoulder."

Luke tried not to look too pleased. "He did? That's great!...but, I still didn't wake up."

"_Oh_, once you hear what happened next--"

"Now, now, Anise, the poor boy has suffered enough." Jade's eyes were impossible to see through the glare on his glasses, but Luke really didn't think she'd have liked to see them anyway. Luke idly wondered just how much Guy suffered until Jade said it was enough.

"Hey, don't pick on Guy!" Whatever it was, Luke wasn't going to leave him hanging. But why did he look so frazzled?

'Anise. It's probably Anise.'

"Thanks..." Guy managed to stumble up the gangplank, trying his hardest not to look at her. What the hell just happened?

"There you are, Luke," Van greeted as he approached the group, accompanied by Count Almandine.

Luke smiled widely. "Good morning, Master Van, Count Almandine."

"I see we're just about ready to depart. Again, I apologize for the trouble we have caused you, Count Almandine."

The Count waved his hand dismissively and tucked it behind his back, automatically slipping into parade rest. Ion slipped past Luke to face him.

"I thank you for your assistance."

"Please, have a safe journey." Almandine turned his attention to Luke. "I sent a carrier pigeon ahead alerting your father and the King that you are on your way home. I did mention your...condition, but I also let them know that you are healthy. Also, I told them to expect the Fon Master and a Malkuth soldier. I felt uncomfortable not giving them a report of what was going on, just in case you were delayed."

"Oh, that's not a bad idea! Thanks." Luke carefully placed a hand on Ion's shoulder and they followed Van onto the ship. The moment they were onboard the gangplank retracted and the ship's horn gave out a loud bellow as they started moving away from the dock. Luke looked around eagerly; she'd never been on a ship before. She felt a bit of bitterness at her seven year captivity, but pushed it away. That was in the past now; not to mention it paled in comparison to Lorelei's imprisonment.

"I need to speak with you later on, Luke. Can you meet me on the deck in a while? I must check on some things below, first." Van was most likely referring to Arietta. She was being contained in a holding cell under heavy guard.

"Okay, I don't mind."

Ion left her soon after, saying he was going to look for Anise. Luke scratched her head, very much alone.

'I wonder what I should do? Talk to Guy and see what's bothering him? I don't know...'

Luke began to make her way to the bridge, watching as the crew members darted to and fro around her. They gave her a respectful nod as she passed—if they were confused by her appearance they didn't give any indication. Some of them even smiled at her.

The first person of their party that she ran into was Jade. He was on the bridge, by the helm, and looked incredibly pensive. Luke had never spent much time thinking in her life, so she found Jade's ability to multitask while deep in thought to be pretty impressive. She was trying to determine if it would be worth it to interrupt him, but he ended up taking the issue right out of her hands.

"What would you do if you weren't really you?" he asked, keeping his gaze on the large windows before him. Luke didn't even bother trying to figure out how he knew she was standing behind him and chose to focus on his question instead. She knew what he was getting at, but he didn't know that she knew.

Well, she thought.

Luke crossed her arms and tapped her foot against the wooden planks on the floor. The question took on another layer if she counted Lorelei merging into her. For all intents and purposes she _was_ the Seventh Sentience. Did that mean she was no longer Luke? Not exactly. From the moment she was "born" she was a fragment of Lorelei's soul, more so than even her original. Simply being composed of nothing but seventh fonons made all the difference.

Realizing she was taking too long, Luke decided to just go with her gut feeling.

"I don't know, Jade. I guess I'd work hard on redefining myself. Besides, even if I wasn't _Luke_, I still existed. I still did things around the manor, even though it wasn't much. I...I watched Pere garden and went on walks with my mother and made mud pies for Guy's birthday--" Luke coughed and turned a little red in embarrassment. She hadn't meant to go that far.

"...Mud pies."

"He said he liked them!" exclaimed Luke, sounding defensive.

"I'm sure. I wonder, did you also make him a necklace out of macaroni?"

"So what if I did? Stop laughing at me!"

"I would never."

Luke sighed and glared at him; although, if she wanted to be honest it probably was more of a pout.

"Anyway, I'm more than my name. Does that help?"

"More than your name, hm? I see..."

"Anything else?"

"No, no. I confess that I was a little curious." For a moment, Luke thought she saw his hands clench.

Luke tilted her head to the side. "You're hard to figure out, you know. What's that saying? About still waters?"

"I wouldn't really attribute that to me. I'm just a tottering old man, Luke, pay me no mind."

"If this is how you act when you're 'old,' you must have been really something when you were young."

"That would be an understatement." Jade didn't speak for a while and Luke shifted nervously, wondering if she said something. Then he startled her by turning around to face her. His red eyes were sharp.

"You know, Luke...someday you may hate me enough to want to kill me...or perhaps you already do."

Luke gaped at him.

"I don't get it. I could never hate you."

An unidentifiable emotion flickered on Jade's face before he sighed, probably exasperated in the face of her naivete. It didn't matter what he thought—she knew she wouldn't. She didn't know how she was certain, but it didn't make it any less true.

"Never is quite a long time, Luke."

"Oh my—you aren't planning something, are you?" Luke was once again startled when he began laughing. Well, it wasn't normal laughter—more like a dry chuckle.

"You must have lived quite the simple life."

"Yeah, you could say that," Luke agreed, not even bothering to waste her energy rising to his bait. He'd outwit her anyway, Fonon Sentience or no. "But is that really so bad? Life's hard enough without making things difficult for myself. Look at me. Besides, you seem to hate yourself more than enough for the both of us."

"Hm."

Luke brightened. "Oh, this is the first time we've really talked to each other."  
"Indeed. Does this mean I also get a macaroni necklace?" Whatever mood had fallen upon him earlier was swept away by his mocking tone. Luke grumbled and headed back down the stairs.

"You'll get no macaroni necklace from me, pal."

"I'm heartbroken."

'That would require a heart. He's unbelievable.' But she still found herself stifling a chuckle when she emerged back on deck. Ion had found Anise, and the two of them were looking out at the horizon, enjoying the view. Mieu was there as well, also staring out at the deep blue waters. He hadn't been on a ship before, either.

Ion turned when he heard her approach and smiled.

"Hello, Luke."

"Good morning, Master! I'm sorry I left you behind, but the others said it would be better to let you sleep after yesterday." Mieu looked up pleadingly, asking for forgiveness. Luke shook her head.

"It's fine."

"I hope what's happened won't incur King Ingobert's disfavor and cause negotiations to fall through," Ion said, looking worried.

"Don't worry. I'll explain everything to my uncle. I'll ask Father and Mother to help, too." Luke joined them by the railing and leaned on it. The sea air was refreshing, and the water was lovely. So far, riding by ship was pretty nice.

"That's right. Your mother is His Majesty's younger sister."

"Yep, so relax."

"You're right, I suppose I should." He sighed. "So much has happened, though. I can't help but feel sorry for what we did to Arietta."

"Yeah...I thought the same thing." Considering Asch blatantly and unapologetically manipulated her. Luke had a feeling it wouldn't be the last time he used such methods as well.

'I guess that's his purpose, though. Sometimes bad things have to be done. He didn't get the name 'Bloody' by being pleasant, that's for sure.'

"Enough about Gloomietta. Luke, can I ask you a weird question?" Anise affected an innocent look. Luke may not have been the sharpest knife in the drawer, but she definitely wasn't falling for that.

"What?"

"What do you think about Tear?"

Luke blinked in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I mean what I asked. What do you think about Tear?"

"Well...I think she takes some getting used to, and she used to annoy me a lot more before...but, well, she's very pretty."

"You think she's pretty? Like that?"

"Er, just because I'm a girl now doesn't mean I suddenly won't find Tear attractive."

Anise looked thoughtful before nodding.

"Yeah, that does make sense...oh Luke, you're so cute!" Luke promptly turned red. "Oh, I can't _wait_ until we get to Chesedonia! It's going to be great! I always wanted to fight in a costume--"

"Ah...I need to find Tear. See you." Before Anise could stop her, Luke power walked to safety. Just what was Anise planning anyway?? Luke could only imagine what she would try to put her in.

She actually hadn't been serious about finding Tear, but she ended up stumbling across her anyway by the bow of the ferry. Tear nodded when she saw her approach.

"How are you feeling? Any complications?"

"Complications?"

"With your new form, of course."

"No, not really...I'm still trying to get used to it."

Tear nodded as if she was expecting the answer.

"We'll have to keep an eye on you. Since we don't know what exactly caused you to change, it could be dangerous to just assume everything will work out."

"U-Um, you're making me a little paranoid."

"I'm sorry, but you should know." Tear mercifully changed the subject. "It seems you weren't actually a Seventh Fonist after all; although, judging from the way you performed that fonic arte earlier you certainly have the capability of learning."

"Oh, that..." Luke was half-hoping they would forget, but it was just wishful thinking.

"The ability to use the Seventh Fonon is something you are born with, and they are very few in number. You should consider learning some healing artes at least." It was a good idea, certainly. Maybe she'll ask Tear for lessons later on; there was also Natalia back home who could help her with that.

'Or, considering that I'm Lorelei now, I can simply try it out myself. I can't believe I actually forgot that for a second!'

Luke spoke, "Yeah, I should...hey, why are there so few?"

"You could say it's because the seventh fonon was a mutation."

"Oh, really?"

Tear appeared to have taken on the role of instructor, as she quickly settled into lecture mode.

"A device called the Planet Storm was created as a way to cycle the planet's memory particles through the fonon belt. This created a mutation in the six fonon elements and the memory particles."

Luke looked thoughtful as she stared at her hands. She felt her mind wander as images flowed behind her eyes. Lorelei was memory, and he/she/it could remember the time when he/she/it first became aware, bursting forth in a flurry of song. How that meshed into human history wasn't all that easy to determine. Lorelei remembered walking upon the earth with Gnome and spending a lot of time by the sea with Undine. Sylph sent pleasing winds to flow through her hair, and Shadow and Rem watched over her from afar while Efreet kept her warm at night. The cities back then were much, much larger and more advanced; the gap between rich and poor was also incredibly steep. If you weren't in a city, then you scraped by in a farming village. Lorelei had little use for sprawling metropolises, instead spending time in the villages to heal and foster life. They loved Lorelei for itself then, not the Score; although, that was mostly because they simply hadn't known what they were dealing with, yet. Things changed the moment they realized the future was in reach.

Lorelei _was_ a combination of six elements and memory particles, but that would be the same as saying the human body was composed of specialized cells that came together to form organs and bones and flesh. It was true, but that was hardly the end of it.

"I wonder, Tear."

"What?"

"Um, it's nothing."

Tear didn't look convinced, but she didn't press.

'What is Lorelei, exactly? Not even I really know. Lorelei never really thought about it, either. It just _was_. Do the other Sentiences have this problem? Or do they just not care? They must be somewhere, right?'

"Something else, Tear."

"Yes? You're being unusually thoughtful today. You never seemed to be all that curious before."

Luke nodded in response to the gentle rebuke. Tear typically called it like she saw it.

"I know."

"Still, haven't your tutors taught you any of this?"

"It's complicated. When I first came to the manor, I had to learn everything from scratch. I learned my parents' faces, first, and then I had to learn how to walk and talk...um, that took about a year. Writing was such a pain, too, and it's still giving me trouble. But, I'm trying to fix that, now." Luke trailed off when Tear briefly turned away from her. Did she make her upset, somehow?

"...I see. What's your question?"

"It's just...do you know anything about the other Sentiences?"

"Sentiences only form when there is a large concentration of a particular fonon. That's all, really."

"Oh...well, thank you, Tear."

"Don't mention it," replied Tear. Her face then seemed to soften from its usual stoic expression. "I'm sorry."

"Um, what? What for?"

"I don't think I've been taking your memory loss very seriously. I've been unkind to you this whole time. I'm ashamed of myself."

Luke smiled and held out her hand.

"Don't worry about it. I wasn't making things very pleasant, either. Truce?"

Tear grasped her hand and shook it firmly.

"Truce. I promise I'll get you home safely."  
"I know you will," Luke said, "oh, I better go. I'm supposed to meet Master Van."

Tear's eyes narrowed slightly at the mention of her brother's name.

"I still don't trust him. He's up to something."

"He's hiding something, yeah...but aren't you as well?"

Tear fell silent. She couldn't argue with that.

"I'll see you later, okay? I don't think Master Van's planning to do anything to me right now anyway."

"I suppose. It wouldn't be prudent to do anything right now in such close quarters."

"If it makes you feel any better, I'll be right over there."

Luke left Tear to her thoughts and walked around the--what did they call it--port side of the deck. She spotted Van standing near the rear of the ferry. She could really see the resemblance between the two siblings, now, as he had the same thoughtful expression on his face. Luke decided to watch him for a moment, knowing full well he knew she was there.

'I hope we can do something about Akzeriuth when the time comes...Master Van, are you really that far gone?'

Luke loved Van—when her own father pushed her away from grief, Van had stepped right in to take his place. She still loved him even with the knowledge she possessed now. Asch didn't understand it (not like she understood it any better), but she couldn't forget seven years of kindness. Van never lost patience with her, he never made her feel stupid nor worthless. He never compared her to the Luke before the kidnapping, although that was because he knew she _wasn't _that Luke. Van's sword lessons were a breath of fresh air in the stagnant manor, when she couldn't even walk around Baticul for a change of scenery.

Still, times were dangerous now and she had to set that same love aside. Neither Luke nor Asch knew enough or were powerful enough to openly oppose the man. Lorelei was largely cut off from its own power trapped in the Core and Score due to the Pact, and even then, Lorelei could only do so much about averting the impending disaster when it was written by Auldrant's own memory particles. There was also the not-so-minor matter of weaning the world off the Score itself.

_'Listen to what Van has to say, but be careful. After all, it is true that the Score ultimately brings little but suffering, and it is also true something drastic will have to be done to free the world from its clutches.' _Asch, himself, didn't necessarily disagree with Van's philosophy. His primary issue lay with the man's radical methods. _'He probably won't tell you anything too important, but it would be best if we can try to figure out his exact plans. Right now, all we know is what is written in the Score; it would be helpful if it had specifics, but...'_

'I know, Asch.'

_'Don't act as if I should have assumed you knew all that. Just be yourself and he won't suspect a thing.'_

'I'm getting the feeling you're calling me simpleminded.'

_'Hurry up, Dreck.'_

Luke fixed a happy smile on her face and approached her master. He nodded at her when she stopped beside him and turned his gaze back out to sea.

"I was wondering what you were doing."

"Just watching you and thinking, Master Van."

"Oh? About what?"

"A couple of things...what did you want to talk to me about?"

"What can you tell me about what happened? I admit I'm at a loss concerning your change."

"There isn't a lot to tell, Master Van. I was strapped to a fon machine in our castle, and then I was like this. I don't think Jade even really knows."

"Hm, if he doesn't then..." Van trailed off, frowning thoughtfully. Luke assumed that while her sudden change had thrown him for a loop, it probably wouldn't throw too big a wrench in his plans.

"Don't worry, Master Van, it will all work out." Even if he didn't really care.

"Well, there are doctors in Baticul. I'm sure your family will insist they take a look at you first thing."

"Yes, they probably will."

The conversation fell into a comfortable lull. When Van spoke again, Luke knew there was no going back.

"I suppose I should get straight to the point; these recent events have convinced me more than ever. Luke, haven't you ever wondered about your kidnapping and the way you've been forbidden to leave the mansion?"

'I was hoping he wouldn't go through with it—stupid, I know.'

"I'm guessing it's not because of my father is worried about me, is it?"

Van gave her a grim smile. "Indeed not. It's to keep you—the only person in the world capable of causing a hyperresonance on their own—on a short leash here in Kimlasca."

'If I hadn't known about his plans, he would have had me completely fooled because...he really isn't lying, is he? After Asch got taken away, they must have panicked that their key to prosperity might be targeted again. They'd be unwilling to take the chance, Score or not.'

"Didn't Tear say it happens when two Seventh Fonists interact?"

"Usually, yes. Hyperresonance is a power that occurs when two Seventh Fonons interact. It can destroy and reform any matter under special conditions."

"But you're saying I can cause it by myself."

"Yes." Van began to pace. "With training, you could control it at will. It could be useful in war. Your father and uncle both know that. That's why Malkuth wanted you."

"So I've been held captive in my own home as a weapon."

Van frowned slightly; he must have expected her to be more upset. Luke would have tried if she thought she'd fool him any. After a few moments, he decided to disregard her odd reaction and continued.

"I'm sorry to put this on you, especially considering the recent events. But I felt that you deserved to know. Now that we're out of the mansion, I can speak more freely. I don't want to see you used as a weapon, Luke, I especially don't want there to be a war."

"Well, I'd rather not be in a war, either. Do you have a plan?"

"An idea, yes. With your hyperresonance, it's possible you can become a hero, known for keeping the peace."

_'Van actually has a point. If worse comes to worse, we're going to have to do something drastic like that.'_

'A hero? I don't know...'

_'You might not have a choice.'_

The horn bellowed just then, cutting their talk short. Van sighed.

"Looks like we've arrived."

Luke could make out a large city in the distance. The ferry was heading straight into the harbor, one of the many ships and boats of all shapes and sizes sailing around the city. Chesedonia was located on a narrow strip of land at the mouth of a large desert. She swore she could see the sand from here, and the buildings appeared to be made of a stone the same color as the earth. Not just the buildings, but everything seemed to be some shade of brown. However, there was a variety of colorful flags and banners hung around the city, as if to compensate for the lack of color. It was noting like Luke had seen before, not that that was saying much.

"So this is Chesedonia..."

"Yes. Here we'll change ships for one headed to Baticul. I have to go see to Arietta. Stay close to your group."

"Yes, sir."

"Ready to go, Luke?" Guy seemed to have recovered from whatever happened to him this morning. Luke briefly weighed her chances of getting him to come clean; they weren't looking too good. The others began to emerge from their spots as well, gathering at the port side so they could disembark. Anise, Ion, and Mieu greeted her cheerfully, as if they had been apart for days instead of an hour, while Tear and Jade were far more reserved.

"Are you okay, Guy?" Luke asked, deciding to take a chance.

Guy looked sheepish. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just...suffered from a shock--"

"He touched your boob, it was hilarious." Anise couldn't hold it back any longer. Luke stared in shock while Guy tried his hardest to imitate a man suffering from a heart attack.

He should get an award—it was a very realistic performance.

"Th-That's your fault, Anise! You grabbed my arm!"

Anise sent him a half lidded look. "I was only trying to help, Guy. Your hand slipped down there by itself."

'Poor Guy...well, it was an accident, and he is very sorry. I don't want him to think I'm angry or feel ashamed of himself, especially since I want him to get over his phobia...'

"It's okay, Guy. I don't mind if it's you." And...now they were staring at _her_. Anise squealed, Tear blushed, and Guy went right back to not looking at her! Jade—better not look at Jade, he was the sort of person you tried not to make eye contact with.

'What did I say? Asch, Asch, what did I say??'

Asch never replied; she did hear him sigh, however.

'And these are my friends.'

**********

_To be continued_.


	3. On the Road to Baticul

The first part was inspired by a scene that only happens in a New Game + if you have Luke wear a certain type of costume. I just wanted to have a bit of fun before things got more serious and stuff. As always, I would like to thank everyone that reviewed and favorited my fic. I may not get back to you (I'm going back to school, huzzah!), but just know you are definitely appreciated :)

_Redefining the Soul_

Part III: On the Road to Baticul

Alternate: Luke's New Title--Fashionable Noble

**********

Man? Woman? It doesn't matter; a change in sex is no excuse not to look one's best for one raised in the lap of luxury. One who graces the battlefield and manor halls dressed in the height of fashion.

**********

Luke fon Fabre

Ever since Choral Castle, Luke made a vow to distance herself from the selfish, overly vain, egocentric brat that she once was. The problem with that was, naturally, she wasn't all that sure where to begin. Lorelei was worshiped, after all, and Asch usually didn't bother with trying to be nice. The only other people she knew were: servants, Guy included; Natalia, who, to be honest, could be just as bad of a snob as Luke was; or her mother, who...well, her mother would be a fine person to emulate, now that she thought about it. In the end, Luke simply decided to be more empathetic. Still, it was very difficult sometimes, and she found herself biting her tongue a fair bit and thinking mean things about people. However, Luke was determined to do her best, so when Anise took her hand and led her into a rather nice shop that catered to upperclass women, she allowed herself to be dragged along. She did need clothes that were fitted for women, right? And her tastes, admittedly, did run on the high end of the scale. Despite her misgivings, Luke even allowed herself to be pushed into a dressing room and told to wait while Anise got something that would be "just perfect" for her. She didn't want to hurt Anise's feelings when she was being so enthusiastic; the girl was trying really hard to find something nice. Luke just wanted a pair of pants and a shirt (and another coat, she really wanted another one), but she didn't know how to express that without sounding like a spoiled child all over again.

Once Luke saw what Anise chose for her, however, she wished she had simply done that in the first place.

It was the latest style of spring dresses for a young, privileged woman who was either unmarried or yet without children. The kind that had no sleeves with a strapped bodice that was modified into a long basque that split at the front. The kind with an that was underskirt was knee-length and made of satin.

Luke was absolutely horrified.

She didn't know how long she stared at the mirror, mind blank as Anise cheerfully made sure everything fell just right. Luke had tried to fend her off, she really and truly did, but Anise was unnaturally _strong_! She must have spent her free time lifting weights or something. It made no sense!

"There, you look so cute! I'm so jealous!" Anise nodded and began to smooth her hair (had Luke ever considered an up-do? she really should!)

Luke licked her lips, trying to find a nice way to speak her mind. She was trying to be more pleasant, right? She was trying to be more adult, and mature, and a better person. Luke ran those lines in her head over and over again as Anise beamed at her in the reflection of the mirror.

'Why the hell did Anise have to make that so damn difficult??'

"Anise, I can't wear this." Luke cringed when Anise's lower lip started to protrude and her large, brown eyes began to widen.

"Why not? I've already used the money from your clothes, so..."

'You did _what_?? After I did all that work to get her to take them for that price in the first place??'

Luke took a deep breath. "Anise. I...yes, I'm a girl, now, but that doesn't mean I suddenly want to wear skirts and dresses and..."

"But I can't!" Anise cried, looking upset. "I...even though I'm a Fon Master Guardian, there's no way I can wear something so lovely. I'm sorry, Luke, I know it was bad, but...this was going to be my only chance at being able to buy such a beautiful dress. Look, you can choose your coat--you'd like that, right?"

'Oh Anise...' Luke weakened when the girl sniffled and turned away so Luke couldn't see how upset she was.

"I was so happy. For once, I could...well, I-I guess if you hate my idea so much--"

"A-Anise, don't cry! I...I don't mind! It'll be a little difficult to fight in, but--" Luke trailed off when Anise's tears seemed to evaporate before her eyes and she smiled brightly.

"Thanks! Tear, come look!"

'I was used. I was just used.' Luke got the distinct feeling that Anise just pulled one over on her. 'Asch! Anise tricked me!'

_'If you're that damn stupid to fall for such an obvious ploy, you deserve it.'_ came the unsympathetic reply. _'Now stop bothering me! I told you I wanted nothing to do with this!'_

Anise looked particularly smug as she eyed her. "The clerk said it was a modified...what was that name again?..."

"It's a polonaise," Luke muttered, still in shock, "they're typically longer and worn with hoops because of the weight of the fabric...this one's a more casual variety with a neckline instead of a high collar."

Now Anise looked surprised. "How do you know all that?"

Luke blushed and scratched her cheek. "I just...sort of know. Anyway, that's not important!" There was precious little else to do at the manor, and Luke didn't have much in the way of hobbies.

But this was too much! What could she do? Anise said the money was spent! Never again, Anise wasn't going to get her again!

"But Luke, it's so adorable! You look so pretty in white—"

"I'm not a doll, dammit! Just because I'm a girl now doesn't mean I suddenly want to wear skirts!" Luke even went so far as to stamp her foot, but she couldn't bring herself to care at the moment.

"Oh hush, I know what I'm doing!"

"How am I supposed to fight??"

"Well, I admit it's a _little_ impractical."

"Only a little?? This is a fully boned bodice, how can I breathe properly?? What's wrong with pants and a shirt, anyway??"

Anise shrugged and waved her hand dismissively. "Nothing's wrong with them. I just want to see you in a dress."

'At least she's honest.'

"Tear, hurry, you have to see!" Anise stuck her head out of the curtain again, eager to have her hard work displayed.

Tear poked her head into the dressing area, looking flustered. "Anise, Luke, don't be so loud! You're disturbing other people!"

The both of them cringed. "Sorry..."

"Good." She then turned her full attention to Luke. Her cheeks turned a light pink and her expression became wistful. "Oh, she's so cute..."

"Tear!" Luke cried, appalled. She was usually so practical!

"O-Oh, sorry. I suppose you want need one of these anymore." Tear's lips turned downward briefly as she examined the object in her hand.

'Then...she'll just let Anise walk all over me??' Luke looked away, feeling the fierce sting of betrayal. 'Oh Tear...I thought...I really thought we had something...'

Anise shook her head. "No, we can still use it! She'll need it later on."

"What the hell is it?" Luke slowly took the contraption from Tear's hands and turned it over. She had the strangest urge to put it on her head.

Anise snickered. "It's a bra, silly."

"So this is what you wear? You have one, too, Anise?"

Anise looked off to the side, mumbling something about late bloomers. Luke shrugged and examined the bra with more care.

"Oh, do I stick my arms through here?" she asked before Anise sighed and briefly demonstrated how to use it.

'This doesn't seem like a very impressive secret. Even less impressive than those panties I got stuffed into. Girls are more boring than I thought...to think I was so excited to finally see what Natalia would turn so red over...' Knowing about women's coats and dresses was one thing; knowing what went underneath them was an entirely different matter.

"Mmhmm, and it fastens on the back. Yup, that's it!"

"Oh, so that's how they stay in one place." Luke poked the soft fabric of the cup and ran her fingers across the wire stitched in the bottom to provide extra support. "Who knew there were things like this in the world...Have the others come back from getting supplies, yet?" Still, she was just glad she could join in on the fighting now without feeling too self conscious. Luke stuffed it into her bag with the other pairs of underwear and socks they got her.

Tear shook her head as she placed a pair of boots on the extra chair in the dressing room. They were able to barter Luke's old clothes for a moderate amount of gald due to the high quality of the fabric (and Luke making up a pretty convincing story about how it was an original work from some designer in Baticul, which was close to the truth...somewhat); it gave them enough leeway to get her one complete outfit with a bit leftover that was passed along to buy extra items.

What Luke was most anxious about was the sword that Guy was supposed to buy for her. She wanted to start training as soon as possible. Unfortunately, they didn't have nearly enough funds nor the time to commission anything, so Guy examined her build (from a safe distance, of course) and told her that he would take care of it.

Which was, Luke swore, forever ago. Was Chesedonia _that_ big?

"At least we're all set undergarment-wise...and our outfit is done...oh, makeup! Now if you would just let me--"

"No," Luke said, cutting her off. Anise pouted.

'I guess I should be happy that they're taking this so well. But did that have to translate into dressing me up like such a girl? At least there aren't any bows and lace...a small mercy, but still a mercy.'

In the end, the only things Luke could pick out for herself were a plain pair of boots, gloves, and a cheap overcoat. Unfortunately, and not surprisingly, the shop didn't have anything close to resembling her old waist coat, but that couldn't really be helped. As unhappy as she was over the arrangement, having clothes that _fit_ did cheer her up quite a bit.

'Oh well, at least I look rich.' If nothing else, Luke really liked looking rich.

"I'm so excited, this trip was such a success," Anise said as she led them out of the shop. The plan was to meet the rest of the group out here, but they had yet to show up.

Luke rolled her eyes. "Oh, thanks, Anise. I do know what I'm doing, you know."

"Yeah, I noticed! I suppose it's one of those things nobility are good at."

"I wouldn't really know. Mother always liked to ask my opinion, at least."

"Ooh, that could be me, too, someday!" Anise sighed as she daydreamed about fame and fortune.

"Well," Luke felt her irritation at Anise already fading, "when you do become ridiculously rich, we can spend the day together and I'll show you what you should wear and when."

"I'm looking forward to it! I can just see it..."

"Master! There you are, Master!" Mieu bounced through the crowds with Ion on his heels. In the distance, Luke could make out Guy and Jade following at a far more sedate pace. Luke eagerly looked for a hint of her new weapon, but Mieu distracted her with his hyperactive hopping about.

"Be careful, Ion! This heat isn't good for you!" Anise scolded when they drew closer. Ion was huffing more than he should be, but he looked happy.

"It's fine, Anise." He smiled warmly at Luke. "You look very nice, Luke."

"Yes! Master looks really pretty!"

Well, maybe it wasn't so bad...no, wait, she wasn't supposed to vain, right? Still, she couldn't help but blush, though she did her best to hide it.

"You think so?" There were few things she liked more than sincere praise.

"It looks like we're all done here." Jade looked her over. "My, my, I hadn't expected you to embrace your new form so readily."

Luke glowered slightly. "Don't tease me! Anise guilted me into it!"

"I did no such thing! Don't say such things in front of the Colonel." Anise gave look a pointed look.

Luke pointedly ignored her and all but jumped on Guy when she saw he was carrying an extra sheath.

"That's my sword, right?"

Guy came to senses quickly enough to evade her grasp. He gave a shaky laugh.

"Yeah, this is it. Um, wow, what to say..." Guy trailed off and rubbed the back of his neck, clearly embarrassed.

"You don't have to say anything, you know." Luke tried to reach for her sword once again but Guy's phobia prevailed.

"Okay, okay! Here, try the sword out."

Luke caught the tossed sword with ease and looked it over. The sheath was made out of leather and dyed blue--nothing special. The blade was also much longer than her last sword, reaching about three feet in length, but far more slender. It weighed at least a pound less than her old sword. What really caught her eye was the ornate hilt. The grip was surrounded by an ornate guard that consisted of strips of metal snaking around the crossbar and coming together at the pommel. Luke unsheathed the sword and grinned wildly. The difference was amazing! She twirled the sword with ease; the balance was much better as well. While the specifications weren't too far off from her old short sword, it made all the difference in the world. Luke couldn't wear it horizontally on her back like she preferred (the guard and length made that impossible), but she was willing to trade that for something she could readily use.

"Guy, it's perfect! Thank you!"

"It's called a rapier." Guy motioned for her to hold the blade up. "As you can see, it's possible to cut with it to some degree, but it's main strength is its thrusting power."

"Yeah..." That also meant she was going to have to modify her fighting style a bit.

"You can't just hack away at enemies like you normally do." Guy confirmed her thoughts with his next statement. "It's going to require a bit more finesse on your part. Well, to be honest, you needed to learn more finesse anyway."

"What're you trying to say, Guy?"

"Nothing. Do you remember the technique you learned the other night?"

"Sonic Thrust? Yeah, I see...you'll help me, right?"

"Of course. I've watched Van enough to be able to give you some pointers, at least. Once you get used to fighting in that body of yours, you'll be keeping up with us at no time."

Luke beamed at him and Guy had to hold up his arms before she forgot herself and tried to jump on him again.

"If you're done, we should get that fon disc looked at. It could hold the answers to quite a few of our questions." Jade tilted his head toward Guy.

Ion nodded in agreement. "You're quite right. I know just the place we can go. I'm sure Astor will be happy to help us."

"Astor?" Luke carefully strapped on her new rapier. She wasn't used to having a sword hanging from her waist, so now she had to watch out before she tripped over it. Why did things have to be so difficult?

"He lives in the mansion right over there. We should go see him first."

"Oh, alright..." The mansion looked to be pretty close, but the layout of the city had the group treading through the narrow streets. Luke gazed about in wonder; unlike Engeve and St. Binah, Chesedonia was much livelier. The bazaar was nearly overwhelming as merchants shouted and competed with each other to sell their wares. The shopkeepers noticed her fine clothes immediately and seemed to focus all of their energy on getting her to buy something. Luke nearly did several times, and would have if Tear hadn't hurried her along.

Tear's diligence wasn't quite enough, however, as Luke found herself drawn to a stall with various bits of jewelry.

'Mother would like that, I think...' As Duchess and King's Sister, her mother could have any fine jewel she wanted; but Luke thought she would like a souvenir from her "Grand Adventure," as Guy called it.

"Luke, you're falling behind!" Tear admonished. Luke jumped.

"Ah, sorry!"

"Oh, what a darling girl..." Luke froze as slender fingers ran along her cheeks and gently pinched them. She stared in utter bewilderment as some strange woman lightly traced her collarbone with slender fingers and circled around her shoulders. She was an older woman with dark pink hair and...damn, Luke tried not to stare at the chest waving under her nose.

"U-Um..." Luke's face probably matched her hair at this point. The others weren't much help either, also frozen by surprise. Well, Jade looked vaguely amused at the entire scenario.

The woman seemed to enjoy Luke's discomfort and promptly leaned closer. Luke bit her lip when she felt her chest press against her shoulder. The woman's perfume was making it difficult to breathe, which really didn't help her lightheaded-ness. What should she do?? What was this woman doing??

"What's a sweetheart like you doing in a place like this?" the woman cooed.

Anise moaned in horror and held her head.

"Oh no! Some old lady is after Luke!"

"What did you say??"

_'Follow her.'_ Asch ordered suddenly, his voice practically coming out of nowhere. Up until now, Asch had been largely silent. Luke had asked if he wanted to help her look at clothes earlier, and after he snapped and growled a bit at her for being stupid enough to presume he would _want_ to do such a thing, he pretty much vanished. Luke knew he would be back; she also learned not to take his flashes of temper all that seriously. He was so irritable all the time it was probably his default setting.

Now he was back again and ordering her around. Luke wondered if she should be concerned that she found it almost comforting.

'Asch?'

_'Her name's Noir. She's an employee of mine. I've already told her about you and it seems she's __decided to have some fun at your expense. Still, this is a good opportunity. I have an idea, but that would require you to get her and her buddies alone. We need all of the time we can get.'_

'Of course I'll do it, Asch, it's just how am I going to get her alone and convince the others to let me go?'  
_'How the hell should I know?? Think of something!'_

'You know, this would be a lot easier if we just let the others know--'

_'Dreck.'_

'Okay, okay...' It still didn't help her figure out a way to get Noir alone.

Well, flattery never hurt anyone. It also wouldn't hurt to return some of her over-the-top friendliness.

_'Friendliness. That idiot actually thinks it's friendliness...'_ Asch's voice sounded unusually strained.

"Um, you're very pretty, actually, what's your name?" And now she was getting looks _again_. Great.

"I'm so glad you noticed, dear." The woman gave a proud smile and gently placed a finger on Luke's lips. "You can call me Noir, sweetie."

'Why is she touching me there?? Are people outside always this odd?'

Luke carefully batted her hand away before answering. "Okay, Noir...can I ask you something in private?"

"L-Luke! What are you doing??" Anise cried out.

"Hush, little girl, the women are talking." Noir didn't even spare her a glance.

"What did you say, you hag??"

Luke hurriedly grabbed Noir's arm before the two of them started brawling.

"Come on, I need to talk to you." Luke lowered her voice and whispered in her ear. "It's about your current employer. He has instructions."  
Noir didn't even bat an eye at Luke's statement; instead, her expression became smug and she tapped Luke on the chin.  
"Oh, so _that's_ how it is. Well, I certainly can't say no in the face of that. Let's go somewhere alone."  
"Oh, sure." That was easy!

"Luke, you don't even know who she is!" Guy protested. He probably would have separated them forcefully if it weren't for his phobia.

"Oh, she just said she was Noir--"

"That's not what I meant!"

"It'll be fine! I'll be right back."

"Luke, don't you dare--"  
"We'll be right over here if you want to keep watch."  
"Wha--no, I am not watching--Jade, not a word."  
Jade shrugged. "I wasn't going to say anything. To be honest, though, I've not had this much amusement in years."

Luke tugged Noir to the entrance of a side alley. "This way, I won't hold you up for long."  
"Oh, take all the time you need, sugar."

"Um...right..." Luke checked their positions to make sure they were still in sight. She could sense two people deeper in the alley, and she assumed those were the buddies Asch mentioned earlier.  
"So, our esteemed benefactor has new orders?" The change in Noir's demeanor was sudden. "Well, that's what you say, but how do I know I can trust you?"

_'She's a fine one to be talking about trust,' _Asch grumbled, _'tell her 'The Crimson Bird flies at sunset.'_  
'...Whoa, wait, tell her _what_? Who came up with that--'  
_'Shut up and tell her!'_ Well, Luke can guess who did, judging from that response.

"The Crimson Bird flies at sunset," said Luke dutifully. Noir's eyebrow raised and she crossed her arms.  
"I see. I suppose you are on the straight and narrow. We just received a carrier pigeon from Asch recently. He told us to be on the look out for your group in Chesedonia and to keep an eye on the Dorian General as well. What does he want us to do?" Two figures leaped down behind her, still keeping mostly to the shadows. Her companions were also dressed as pirates. Luke could make out that the taller one had a mouse on his hat and an eyepatch, while the shorter, squatter man had a full, bushy beard and small top hat perched on his balding head.

_'They are to get down to Akzeriuth and start relief efforts immediately. Akzeriuth holds thousands of people and evacuating will take time--we need to start now. Once the army gets there, they are free to leave, of course.'_  
Luke heard the anxiousness in his voice and tried not to let it show on her face.  
'Will it be alright? It's that miasma, right? I saw it in your thoughts.'  
_'Yes. I don't know all the details, but the miasma has spread far quicker than anyone estimated. The Dark Wings have more resources than you think. And helping people abandoned by the Score is their specialty, you could say_.'  
Luke nodded. 'Okay, I understand.'

"Akzeriuth needs to be taken care of. He wants you to begin evacuations. He," Luke paused and scanned their joined minds, "doesn't expect you to actually be able lead that many citizens out of there, nor does he expect you to hang around to get arrested by the army. But some kind of system needs to be in place by the time we get down there. People need to be organized and ready to go."

The taller man (York, Asch supplied) spoke up then, "What? He really wants us to disregard previous orders? That's a mighty big job he's asking..."

"He'll pay you, of course."

"Well, as long as we're compensated for our services, I won't complain. Honestly, he's so demanding." Noir sounded playful, however. Luke huffed.

"Tell me about it..."

_'Shut up, Dreck.'_

'You're proving me right, you know.'

"Well!" Noir clapped her hands together. "We can work out a new arrangement later; after all, I have no interest in charity work. We best head down to Akzeriuth, then."

"Thank you so much. Really, you're being very helpful. We'll come and relieve you as soon as we can, okay?"

"I'll keep your word for it, honey." Noir smirked and ran her thumb along Luke's cheek. "If you want to ditch those companions of yours and come with me, just say the word. I might even help _you_ out for free."

_'That--!!'_

"Oh, that's very nice of you to say so. I had no idea the Dark Wings could be friendly." Luke smiled.

Noir stared at her before chuckling. "Oh, you are a dear. Urushi, York, let's go. Orders are orders, after all." Noir backed away into the alley and they disappeared into the shadows.

'Oh, that's a neat trick...I wonder what she meant, though...'

_'You're going to drive me crazy--am I to look after you in this instance as well? Still, I didn't know Noir was like that...'_ Asch trailed off.

'Like what?'

"Luke, are you insane??" Guy seemed to be more than able to scold her, despite his crippling condition.

"But Guy--"

"No buts! I can't believe this--have you lost your mind??" Guy hadn't yelled at her like this since she had managed to get one of his swords and nearly sliced her fingers off.

"I stayed in sight like I said I would." Luke felt guilty enough by keeping secrets; now she was worrying him. Jade, however, got straight to the point.

"And what did you need to talk about?"

Luke's mind raced to come up with something.

"It's a secret." Well, it wasn't good, but it was _something._

"Luke." Now Tear looked ready to scold her.

"What? Can't I have secrets, too? You guys don't tell me things, either!"

"Well, that is true enough," Jade conceded.

Tear frowned. "Colonel..."

"However, they are criminals. If I find out that you've been making unsavory deals with them..." Jade didn't need to elaborate. Luke gaped at him and rapidly shook her head.

"I won't do anything bad, I promise!"

"For your sake, I hope not."

Anise, however, was more concerned over Noir's behavior.

"That hag! She had some nerve, pawing Luke like that!"

"Pawing?" asked Luke.

"How else would you explain it? I thought she was going for your wallet at first, but no, she was making her intentions all too clear!" Anise huffed. "Honestly, Luke, we can't take you anywhere!"

Luke frowned thoughtfully. The only other explanation would be...

"You mean she liked me? Can girls do that??"

She was met with silence (dammit, again?) before Jade turned away and started toward Astor's mansion.

"Guy, explain."

"W-What??"

*

Much to Luke's annoyance, Guy hemmed and hawed before finally saying that he'd tell her later--which is what he usually said when confronted with subjects he didn't want to tell her about. She finally had to drop it, as they didn't have the time right now and they needed to get the disc looked at. Luke was interested on what was on it as well.

She was going to make him tell her one of these days, though.

The mansion itself was totally unlike her home. Its ceilings were much higher and the overall shape of the building looked like something out of her story books. The furnishings were far more ornate as well, coming in all sorts of bright colors and shapes. Even the walls had designs on them. Honestly, though, who needed doors that tall?

They were led to a sitting room to wait for Astor to appear. It was just as lush as the rest of the mansion she'd seen. Luke plopped down on a large, red sofa and had to resist stretching out. She wasn't quite sure how she ended up beside Jade, though. Mieu settled on her lap, enjoying the fact that Luke was being kinder to him than usual. Fortunately, Astor didn't keep them waiting for long. When the far door began to open they stood as the master of the house entered the room. He didn't cut an impressive figure, as he was a short man with a ridiculous turban on his head, but he was clearly someone important as he greeted Ion.

"Oh my, Fon Master Ion! If only you'd let me know you were coming, I'd have prepared a grand welcome for you..."

"It's fine. We're trying to keep a low profile." Ion must have been pretty used to the treatment as he didn't bat an eye when Astor bowed deeply at the waist.

"A mansion of this size must have a fon disc analyzer or two." Guy observed. Astor straightened and gave a crisp nod.

"I see you have an eye for luxury. Yes, my home does in fact have an analyzer."

"Great." Jade turned to Ion. "Fon Master, would you be so kind as to request that they analyze that fon disc?"

'Somehow, that doesn't sound like much of a request...' Luke thought.

Ion, naturally, didn't mind at all. "Would you do that for us?" he asked politely. Astor smiled and twirled his mustache.

"Name it. The Chesedonian Merchants' Guild is always at your service, Fon Master. Please, leave it to me. You there!" Astor clapped his hands, summoning a servant from the edges of the room. Guy took the fon disc out of his tail coat and handed it over. "Analyze that fon disc and deliver the results to him."

"Yes, sir." The servant bowed.

"Thank you," Guy said, although the servant didn't acknowledge it as he went to do his master's bidding.

Once the servant left, Luke couldn't help but give in to her curiosity.

"Ion, do you know this guy?"

Astor smiled at her. "It's thanks to the Fon Master that we were able to establish this place of exchange on the border."

"Well, there has always been a settlement here as a way for travelers to prepare for crossing the desert," Ion explained further, "Chesedonia as a major hub of trade only happened recently. I believe it is a good way to encourage trade and travel between the two countries."

"The Merchants' Guild contributes large amounts of money to Daath. In return, the Order enforces the recognition of Chesedonia as an autonomous state," continued Tear.

Luke nodded slowly as she absorbed the information. An autonomous state, much like Daath...

"Oh, I think I understand...thanks."

"You must be really rich, Astor!" Naturally, that was the first thing Anise focused on. "I can't handle it! Wow! I wish I lived in a place like this!"

"I don't get it. Do you want to marry Astor, too?"

"Luke!"

Anise was spared from further embarrassment when the servant returned with the fon disc and two bound volumes.

"Here are the results of the analysis, sir." He handed the data to Guy.

"Thanks." Guy briefly examined the books. They were slim, but that was mostly due to tiny script that littered the pages.

"That's a lot, Guy..." Luke wondered if they would be able to use it.

"I guess we'll read them on the ship."

"Then let's be going. Thank you for your assistance." Jade bowed his head slightly. Astor knew a dismissal when he heard one, as he was quick to show them to the door.

"Any time you need something, please don't hesitate to let me know." He gave a queer laugh that caused a shiver to go down Luke's spine. She could have gotten by without hearing that, that was for sure.

The servant opened the door to the outer hallway. The group made their way out of the twisting halls to the outside. It was early in the afternoon now; Luke could scarcely believe so much had happened in less than two days. Jade led the way down the marble steps and off of Astor's property. They headed south and east on the main street towards the port.

"We're nearly home, Guy! I'm really looking forward to it." Luke adjusted her hold on Mieu, having yet to put him down. But if she didn't know any better, Tear was glancing at them a lot...

Guy sighed, not looking nearly as pleased. "Yeah, I'm sure you'll be happy. I'm a little worried about everyone's reactions, though."

"I'll take care of it, don't worry. I won't let anyone put the blame on you."

"Haha, my hero."

"Don't laugh, I want to help you, for once." They had reached the tavern when a Kimlascan soldier approached and gave a sharp salute.

"Ah, here you are. The ship is ready. Please come to the Kimlasca-Side port--"

'Concentrated seventh fonons...someone's coming!'

"Look out!" cried Tear a moment later, just as a dark shape appeared shot towards Guy at incredible speed. Guy managed to avoid a direct hit, but his right arm was grazed, causing him to spin and drop the data onto the ground. The attacker, Sync, easily snatched the disc from midair. Guy recovered fast enough to gather up the books with his good arm and got to his feet.

'Something's wrong with Guy!'

_'Protect yourself, first!'_

"Hand those over!" Sync darted forward to press his attack. Guy nimbly jumped backward, but it was obvious he was still reeling.

"We shouldn't cause a scene here. To the ship!" Jade ordered.

"Guy, are you okay??" Luke cried as he clutched the documents to his chest.

"Go, Luke!"

She pivoted on her heel and ran as fast as she could after the others.

"You're not getting away!" Of course, Sync wouldn't let them go that easily.

Luke admitted she was a little frightened as they dashed headlong down the cobblestone streets. Despite his injury, Guy had pulled ahead in front of all of them, with Anise and Ion in the middle and Jade and Tear bringing up the rear. Luke was the slowest, her body's center of gravity still having the time to give her trouble when she had never been that quick to begin with. Poor Mieu was probably getting strangled with the tight hold she had on him. She could feel Sync on her heels, but that wasn't what concerned her.

'Replica...he's made up of nothing but seventh fonons...just like Ion...' Luke didn't know how many replicas there were in the world; they were outside the Score, for one. Lorelei had only known about Luke due to their shared frequency. Luke didn't know if Ion knew he was one, although he most likely did, given his position. But now there was another replica, and he was a God General at that. How many were there? How could she find out more about them?

But not now. Now she had to run for her life.

Unfortunately, luck wasn't on her side. Sync reached out and managed to snag the end of her sword sheath, sending her off balance.

"Dammit!" she snarled in frustration. Luke grabbed her belt to keep him from completely yanking her off balance. She had the sense to put her back to a wall before he could attack it. For Undine's sake, the port was _right around the corner_!

Sync blocked her only escape route. She couldn't see his face, but she could imagine it was smug.

"I can use you as ransom to get that data; if you're smart, you'll do as I say and behave yourself."

'Yeah, right. Only Asch can order me around.'

_'I'm touched.'_

"What should we do, Master??" Mieu cried, ears flapping wildly from panic.

Luke shushed him as she placed a hand on her hilt and began to unsheathe her sword. Sync sneered at her and struck, his fist sinking into her stomach.

"I told you to--W-WHAT??" Sync's fist had continued to sink into her, past her coat and bodice and into her very body itself. The momentum had pushed his entire hand into her abdomen until Sync got the presence of mind to stop his attack. Silence passed as they stared in horror at the sight of their joined bodies. Finally, Luke started screaming.

"_What the hell is this???_ Get it out!!!"

"Shut up, I'm trying!!" Sync was forced to put his foot against the wall to give him the proper leverage. It was an agonizingly slow process, and Luke nearly vomited more than once when she felt her insides _move_. However, fear of what Sync would do if she spewed all over him kept her from emptying her guts out. With one last, sharp tug, Sync's gloved fist came completely free. He stumbled backward and held his hand, inspecting it. Luke quickly pressed a hand against her stomach, but to her surprise, she wasn't bleeding. There was no indication that what happened had occurred at all. They then stared at each other before Luke raised her hand.

"Uh, see ya." Luke zipped past him and down the short hill that led to the port. When she reached the stairs, she simply jumped them in one flying leap. Luke stumbled upon her landing, nearly falling flat on her face, but she managed to recover in time. A soldier jumped in surprise but still managed to make a salute.

"Master--er, Luke, departure preparations are complete."

"Get this ship moving! Now!"

"E-Excuse me?" Luke grabbed his shoulder and shoved him forward.

"We're being chased! Hurry!"

The next moment, the ship's engines roared to life. Luke cursed when the gangplank began rising without her. She jumped as high as she could and grabbed the ledge before it went up completely. She heaved herself on board, panting harshly.

'Thanks a lot, guys, I didn't need the help at all.'

"Are you okay, Master?" Mieu squeaked worriedly.

"I'll live." Once she made sure she wasn't flashing anyone, Luke leaned against the side of the boat with a groan.

"What happened, Master? His hand--"

"Don't tell the others, alright?"

"If you're sure...but if you're sick, you should tell the others."

"I'm not, don't worry. I'm alright."

Mieu's face became uncharacteristically thoughtful. "Master, you're really okay? You've felt strange for a while."

"I have?" Luke tensed. Mieu didn't notice. He nodded emphatically, his eyes wide with worry.

"It's not a bad different, I guess...but every time I look at you, I get the strangest feeling. As if you're bigger than you are. I've wanted to protect Master before, but now I want to do it more than ever!"

"I see..." Luke rubbed Mieu's head. "Mieu, trust in me, won't you? I'm working to change the world. As a sacred beast of the Order, as one who wears proof of the covenant with Yulia Jue...can I count on you?"

Mieu gazed at Luke in awe. After a moment, he snapped out of his trance and nodded.

"I'll do whatever it takes!"

"Good...thank you."

_'What the hell was that earlier? Why did Sync begin to merge with you?'_ Asch demanded.

'I think...no, I do know. His fonons began to disperse when he contacted my body.' Luke heaved herself to her feet and began to make her way to the cab that dominated the middle of the ferry. 'At the time, I just wanted him to not hit me. I guess I unconsciously began to absorb him since the my fonons tend to attract each other. I guess I shouldn't be so surprised that that happened--I could feel them trying to return to me.'

_'So he is a replica. Van never told me.'_ Asch's voice became bitter then, spitting out the word "replica" as if it was some vile disease.

'I'm a replica, you know.'

_'That's different. You are _my _replica. You are now Lorelei.'_

'That doesn't make much sense.'

_'If hatred were logical there would a lot less of it in the world.'_ There was a rare hint of amusement in his tone.

Luke found the others downstairs in one of the rooms. Guy stood by the single table in the middle of the room, examining the documents he had in his possession. Ion and Jade were seated at said table, while Anise was perched on top of one of the bunk beds. Tear was standing off to the side, and she was the first to look up when Luke entered the room.

"There you are, are you alright?"

"We're fine. Why don't you hold Mieu?" Luke happily handed him over, noticing Tear's slight blush. She was beginning to notice a pattern... "Anyway, are you okay, Guy?"

"Huh? Oh, I'll be okay. It's just, damn, I lost part of the documents when Sync attacked."

Jade held out his hand. "Let me see them." Once Guy handed them over, Jade flipped open the first book. "It looks like isofon research. 3.14159265358979323846...this is Lorelei's fonon frequency."

"Huh, I wonder why Lorelei's fonon frequency would be recorded on that disc."

"Indeed..."

Tear managed to tear her attention from Mieu.

"Do you understand, Luke? I've already told you about the sentiences; in addition to that, all matter emits a fonon frequency. They're like fingerprints: no two frequencies are the same. Isofons are two entities that have the exact same fonon frequency. Of course, they don't exist unless artificially created."

"You're being awfully nice to Luke all of a sudden," Anise noted slyly.

"We made a truce to be nicer to each other," said Luke, still pleased with gaining Tear's respect, "Tear's naturally nice, you know."

Tear blushed. "L-Luke..."

"Oh, how sweet!" Anise laughed when Tear scowled at her.

"Guy, I'm missing things again." Luke turned to him expectantly.

Guy held up his hands, insisting on remaining uninvolved. Jade pointedly cleared his throat to gain their attention.

"Of course, if isofons were common, we'd have our hands full with hyperresonances all over the place." He leaned back in his chair and thoughtfully tapped the pages of the document. "Isofon research holds the potential for weapons development, so the military has their eye on it."

Anise hummed and tapped her chin. "Oh, that's right. That 'fomicry' technology they worked on a long time ago can make isofons, right?"

"Yeah, fomicry is like a copy machine, right?" Guy looked at Jade for confirmation.

Jade shook his head. "No, replicas created through fomicry are mere imitations. A replica may look identical, but its fonon frequency is different. One can't produce isofons that way."

"So what way will produce isofons?" Luke asked.

_'I'm sure that damn Necromancer knows all about it,'_ Asch thought scathingly. Luke could feel his animosity, not that he made any particular effort to hide it.

'I'm sorry, this is too close to home, isn't it?'

_'And what have I told you about that constant apologizing?'_ Still, Luke couldn't help it, not with having seen Asch's memories: filled with pain and suffering as he was kept in some tiny, cold cell while they poked and prodded and all but ripped him open--

"You know, Luke, if you're going to ask a question, you might want to pay attention to the answer." Jade's dry comment brought her back to the cabin. Luke looked a little sheepish as she smiled at him.

"I'm sorry, Jade. I was just lost in the brilliance of your eyes."

Guy choked in horror.

"While I am amazed at your ability to get distracted by shiny objects," Jade quipped, not even missing a beat, "I was going to say that the process is a long and difficult one. It's also very unreliable. Fortunately for all of us, I should think."

Any further conversation was interrupted by a soldier bursting into the room. His face was completely hidden by his helmet, but his panic was unmistakable.  
"Emergency! A large number of monsters and an unidentified fontech signature approaching from Chesedonia!"

'No wonder he's upset--this tiny ferry isn't equipped with nearly enough weapons or personnel to handle an attack like that!' Report completed, the soldier grasped his weapon and dashed out of the cabin.

The ship rocked violently after a loud explosion. It didn't take long for the sounds of battle to reach them from above. Luke could hear weapons clash and the sound of artes being cast. She could hear frequencies die out one by one.

"Can we assume their goal is to stop Ion and the letter from reaching Kimlasca?" Tear allowed Mieu to jump from her arms and hop to Luke.

Guy frowned as he thought of something. "You don't suppose they'd try to sink the whole ship, do you?"

"I'll protect you, Master, even though I can't swim..." Mieu's squeaky voice made it impossible for him to sound serious, but Luke didn't doubt his sincerity for a moment.

"I know, I'm counting on you." She gave him a smile. Mieu all but puffed his chest out in pride. Tear quickly looked away from the scene.

"So cute..."

Jade tucked his hands at his pockets, immediately taking charge. "If they intended to sink us, they wouldn't come storming aboard."

"Then they're trying to take it over!" Anise cried.

Guy frowned and placed a hand on the hilt of his sword. "Then I guess we'll have to secure the bridge before they do, huh?"

Whatever those Knights planned, Luke wasn't going to let any of her friends get hurt. She'd prefer not to engage in violence, but just thinking about it made her angry!

_'Don't give yourself away too soon. It'll be obvious something is up if you blast them half way across the world.'_

'I should, I can teleport, you know.'

_'Since when??--Ah, you just remembered now, didn't you?'_

'Technically, we always could.' Luke sent him the image of her first hyperresonance, when she and Tear had been sent to Tataroo Valley. It wasn't simple coincidence that the hyperresonance between them had been one that sent an attacking assassin well out of the manor's grounds. Luke's tagging along had been inevitable.

_'Very well: if it comes to that, do it and we'll make up something later.'_ Luke was happy that Asch was willing to concede the point--although it was probably because he found the group she was with to be useful.

Jade would have appreciated the sentiment, at least.

"We should go. If we have to get to the bridge first, we'll have to move fast." Luke made sure her sheath was secured properly. Time to fight with her new weapon.

"Agreed, let's go," Jade commanded and they moved to obey. It was natural to follow his lead. They moved down the hall way in formation: Guy and Luke at point, Anise and Ion in the middle, Jade and Tear providing support from the rear. The area was actually empty; however, this soon changed once they climbed the stairs to the second level.

Luke felt the soldier before she saw him. Her rapier was unsheathed and blocking the blow from a long sword before she could even think about it. She kicked him away and lunged, rapier easily piercing the armor.  
"Sonic Thrust!" Luke didn't outright kill him, but he wasn't going to be getting up soon from the blow. It was a moot point, anyway, as Jade came up from behind and finished him off with a spear to the throat.  
"I guess I'll have to eliminate them for you," he sighed. It wasn't so much a kindness as practicality. Luke stared down at the corpse before speaking.  
"Jade...how does it feel to be able to kill so easily?" She wasn't condemning him for it, she was simply curious.  
"You wouldn't be able to understand anyway. Of course, that's not necessarily a bad thing."  
"I guess. I just...want to learn about the world, that's all."  
"Hm. Well, there's plenty of time for that later." The others had finished up their battles already. Oracle Knights lay scattered across the deck. Luke was now more convinced than ever that she didn't want to get used to it.  
"We should check outside as well," Tear said, calmly wiping off one of her throwing knives. They quietly agreed and raced outside to check for more intruders. The party soon reached the bow of the ship.

'Where is their leader?...And what's that strange frequency I'm hearing?'

A voice came from up above, then, cackling in delight.  
_'Dist..._' Asch growled. _'Be careful, that strange frequency you're picking up is one of his fontech.'_ Luke barely heard him, practically entranced by the sight of a floating, red wing chair. She wasn't all that sure about what she was looking at--all she knew was that she really wanted one.

"Listen you ignorant savages, and you shall hear my beautiful name."  
"He's floating!" Luke cried, pointing in awe. "I wonder if I can float if I try hard enough--"  
_'Are you serious, Dreck??'_  
"Luke, focus." Guy gave her an amused glance. But he was in a floating chair. She had half a mind to be jealous.  
Dist growled and gesticulated angrily. "Silence, plebeian! I am the most graceful member of the God-Generals, the one, the only--"  
"What's a plebeian?" asked Luke, turning to Jade for clarification.  
Jade idly adjusted his frames. "Guy, explain."  
"What? Uh, it was originally the name of a common citizen of the Ancient Ispanian civilization. Nowadays it refers to someone who is low class."  
"Oh." Luke frowned. "So it really is an insult."  
"Couldn't you tell from the tone of his voice??" Anise sighed and rubbed her forehead.  
"Well, yeah, of course, but I wasn't sure--"  
"SILENCE!! Cower before the one who will bring you doom, Dist the--"  
"Runny! Imagine seeing you here." Jade's tone couldn't have been more mocking if he tried. Dist nearly fell out of his chair, but he managed to right himself enough to glare at the Colonel.  
"The Rose! R-O-S-E, rose! Dist the Rose!"  
Anise wasn't any more impressed. "You mean Dist the Reaper."

Dist looked to be on the verge of a temper tantrum. His feet were even kicking the air from sheer frustration with their attitude.  
"I refuse to accept that name! It's rose, ROSE!" he spat, his fists clenching.  
"I didn't know you knew him, Anise." Luke said curiously.  
Anise shrugged. "I'm in the Oracle Knights, too, so...but why do you know him Colonel?"  
Jade was prevented from speaking by Dist himself, who was clearly trying to gain control of the situation.  
"I, the genius Dist, once counted that duplicitous snake Jade amongst my friends."  
"Which Jade is that? I don't know any Jades with such poor taste in friends." Jade shrugged his shoulders and held his palms open face up, as if Dist was speaking nonsense barely worth listening to.  
"What did you say??"  
"Careful now, you know how your nose runs when you get mad."  
"No it doesn't!"

'Asch, is this normal?'  
_'No, Dreck...not at all.'_  
"They're off in their own little world, aren't they?" Guy asked no one in particular.

"Enough!" Dist shrieked, the veins in his forehead visible even from his position in the air. "Now, hand over the fon disc data!"  
Jade raised an eyebrow and calmly reached into his breast pocket. He pulled out the green booklets.  
"You mean this?"  
Dist dove suddenly, forcing Luke to duck before one of the legs smacked her across the head. The chair was far quicker than it looked, as Dist snatched the data from Jade's grasp and was once again high in the air before anyone could move. He cackled again, his legs kicking in glee this time.  
"How careless, Jade!"  
"You can have them. I've already memorized their contents."

Luke looked at Guy. "I think Jade is tormenting him."  
"Yes, it certainly looks that way, doesn't it?" Guy replied.  
"I'm being mocked by savages!" Dist looked two seconds away from ripping his hair out. Luke swore Jade was laughing at him, judging from the way his glasses were glinting. When Dist recovered, again, he leered at them, looking more creepy than menacing.  
"When you taste the pain of my super ultra gorgeous artes, you'll regret what you've done! Behold, my Kaiser Dist R!" Dist snapped his fingers and the source of the strange frequency suddenly appeared in the sky, having jumped from the top of the cab. It was a fon machine, Luke could tell that much, but she had never imagined fontech could act in such a way. It looked like it moved on its own, with no visible cables or means of control. It's arms were capable of both swinging and drilling into its enemies, saying nothing of the danger posed by the main body itself. Luke and Guy quickly split up to attack while the others began casting their artes.

"Luke, fontech are totally dependent on the energy from outside sources! If this thing is autonomous, it must have a battery or energy source to power its movements, try to disable it by cutting off the energy flow!" Guy called, his voice nearly being swept away in the cacophony of battle. Luke had to focus her fonons to the slots in her ears to be able to pick him up. "Be careful not to injure yourself in process!"

'Oh, that makes sense...machines can't move by themselves.' Luke leaped over a swinging arm and landed inside the thing's guard. Hopefully the metal wouldn't be too thick.

"Sonic Thrust!" Unlike the soldier, Luke couldn't pierce the armor easily. Her blade actually got stuck halfway through. Cursing, she had to wrench it out and roll out of the way before she was crushed. Luke couldn't quite avoid its next swing, and she yelped when it hit her leg with a glancing blow. Luckily, her bone didn't break, but it certainly hurt.

_'Damn it, Dreck! You never go for the thickest part of the armor! Aim for the joints!'_  
'I'm sorry!' Not wanting to become a distraction, Luke urged her fonons to repair themselves. They responded quickly, and she was back on her feet the next instant. If nothing else, Lorelei made things handy.  
"Luke, are you okay??" Tear saw Kaiser Dist R's successful attack on Luke and was already casting Healing Circle. Luke hoped she would brush it off as the blow being less serious than it looked.  
"I'm fine, watch yourself!" she answered, already diving back in for another attack.  
Jade's next order brought her short. "Luke, wait, use this instead!" A glyph formed underneath his feet and she watched, listened, as he cast his Splash arte. It slammed into Kaiser Dist R and sent it reeling.

'Of course! I forgot I can do artes, now!'

Luke hurriedly put some distance between her and the machine and drew Undine's fonons as fast as she could. Anise had come up to the forefront to take up the slack as another melee fighter.  
"Oh violent torrent: Splash!" Luke directed the waves of water at Kaiser Dist, trying to focus them on where she had punctured a small hole in its armor. Jade cast Splash once more to continue the barrage. Guy spotted the newly formed Field of Fonons and quickly darted inside for the finishing blow.

"Cold glare of death: Frigid Moon!"

The blades of ice slammed into Kaiser Dist R, causing it to shudder and spin wildly. Dist howled and rushed forward.

"No, my beautiful Kaiser--!!"

"Everyone, get down!" Jade's order was largely unnecessary, as they all but dove onto the deck a moment before the fontech weapon exploded. Dist was caught up in the blast and sent flying into the distance. He fell into the ocean with a loud crash and didn't resurface.

A long moment of silence passed and Luke winced. "Hey...should we--"

"It'll take more than that to kill him. He has the tenacity of a cockroach." Jade slipped his hands into his pockets, totally unconcerned.

"What a guy..." she muttered under her breath.

"Ah well, I'm off to check the bridge."

'Nothing fazes him, does it?'

Guy glanced at the remainder of the party. "I'll go with him. Ladies, please look after Luke."

Anise immediately sidled up beside him and smiled coyly.  
"Hm? Don't tell me you're afraid of us, Guy..."

Guy leaped backwards, looking absolutely horrified.

"No, of course not!" He didn't give anyone a chance to respond as he raced off, all but shaking with fear.

_'What sort of man is he?'_

'Don't start.'

"What should we do, Tear?" Luke asked, carefully sheathing her sword after she checked it for damage.

"Let's check to see if anyone's injured. It will be good practice for you, Luke." Of course, Tear was quite serious when she suggested that Luke learn healing artes. Luke knew how to heal already, but at least this gave her the excuse of using them.

Ion began to make his way toward the stern of the ferry.

"We shouldn't be that far from Baticul now. We should do what we can until then."

"It's not easy being a messenger of peace." Anise gave an exaggerated sigh and followed him. Luke smiled and obediently listened to Tear as she explained the basics of fonic artes using the seventh fonon.

'I'm nearly home.'

**********

_To be continued_


	4. Asch's New Title: Isofon Buddy

Woo, it's been a while! A big hurggle to those who showed their support through review, favoriting, alerting, etc. You guys are great :)

Few things disappointed me more than Asch's unused voice data for his second Mystic Arte. I thought it was terribly unfair, so, of course, I just had to rectify it ;). Things are moving faster than ever.

Part IV: Asch's New Title--Isofon Buddy

**********

Damn it, Dreck! Are you trying to make me lose every ounce of respect that I possess??

**********

Asch the Bloody

Despite his grumblings, Asch couldn't keep himself from checking on Luke as often as he could. It was his duty and, admittedly, honor to look after the idiot. Really, if he didn't, Luke would probably waste her time rescuing drowning kittens or erecting crude gravestones of the monsters they killed or reading stories to children when they _should_ be working on saving the world from a much larger threat. Asch had learned one thing being connected to a Fonon Sentience: omniscience and common sense didn't come standard. He didn't even think _sanity_ came standard; surely not if he was starting to enjoy Luke's ramblings as she observed the world for the first time.

(Why would a thinking, rational mind come from such a phenomenon anyway? The only answer he could get was "Origin," but this wasn't exactly the time to be ruminating over their existential dilemma _anyway_).

What made a Sentience god-like was its raw power; Asch remembered (well, Luke/Lorelei remembered so he did as well) when people both feared and loved all the Sentiences of the world. They were, literally, forces of nature given shape. They weren't all-powerful, but they may as well have been in terms of life on Auldrant. Lorelei's nature made clairvoyance possible up to a certain point, but there were limitations--replicas being the most obvious. Human agency was all too clear and predictable, hence the Score, but fontech and fomicry were the sources of random elements in an already complicated situation.

Well, it wasn't anything to twist himself over.

They did know, however, what Van wanted to do--that was obvious--but how he specifically planned to go about it was up in the air. As it stood, Luke could calculate the path that had the highest probability of happening, all the while knowing that replicas wouldn't be included in the prediction (which was so dangerous they hardly bothered with it). The Passage Rings were critical to the plan, Asch was certain. Replicas would also be involved, most likely, but he wanted to be absolutely sure. Van was the sort of man to have multiple contingency plans, after all.

The Score itself was the main issue, here. Things would be a lot easier if it wasn't such a large, self-fulfilling prophecy two thousand years in the making. As Scion, Asch could approach it, step inside it without dying from overload, but that was really it. For the first time in his life, Asch saw it as it truly was: one ridiculously complicated and immense math equation, infinite in scope just like their fonon frequency.

Unfortunately, idiocy was an integral part of human condition.

If worse came to worse, they would have to go back to a certain point in time and try it again. Lorelei was time, was capable of it, but if the situation were that easy then Asch would have forced them to go back in time and drown Van as an infant first thing. It wasn't that easy, though, as energy cannot be created nor destroyed and time travel would take a hell of a lot of energy. On top of that, ripples would form from that event and equations would reset and whirl away. Van wasn't the only one who hated the Score--if not him, someone would have come along eventually and the whole problem would start over again.

The entire situation was exhausting--simply analyzing the Score was exhausting. Luke couldn't explain it to him very well, not in terms that he could understand anyway. It operated on a completely different plane. It was too large, too, well, infinite for him to be able to observe and grasp the entirety of the mathematical sequence. As Luke was right now, even she needed time and immense concentration to work with the Score, and she _was_ Lorelei.

Still, while Luke held Lorelei itself, Asch wasn't totally unaffected. That was a good thing, of course, as it gave him the power needed to protect Luke and get things done. Luke could fight, did fight, and out of the two of them, contained more raw power. The problem being that Luke wasn't really meant to fight to the death. This was where Asch came in, and he didn't mind. Lorelei may have its blind spots, but at least it had the good sense to delegate tasks it couldn't stomach to perform. Asch thrived on battle and was damned good at killing; he was more than happy to be the Grim Reaper to Luke's Healer.

As if in reaction to his thoughts, the mug in his hands began to rot before his eyes. A few more seconds passed before it began to crumble at his fingertips. The clay cracked and weakened and soon it was nothing more than dust.  
"Binding Doom, huh?..." Asch muttered as he swept away the bits of earth onto the floor. The ability came as a nasty surprise, more so as he ruined a very good pair of pants because of it. Potential embarrassment aside, he would have to be careful. Van was already keeping close tabs on him, even while absent, and his new-found power would send up a red flag.

That, and he would rather not accidentally kill someone he actually gave a damn about. Luke could bring them back, but it was the principle of the thing.

Asch had been left alone for the time being, but soon the time would come where he would have to go into action. They were heading to Baticul now to await Ion's arrival. The Tartarus was far quicker than the methods of travel Luke and her group were forced to use, giving them plenty of opportunity to set up and execute a trap. Asch debated on communicating their movements--on one hand, forewarned was forearmed, but...they had agreed to let Van move unmolested for the time being in hopes of discovering more of what he wanted to do.

He opened up their mental link once more and was immediately inundated with the warmth of Luke's feelings. Asch wasn't used to that level of adoration (or any adoration), although he liked it, certainly. He shouldn't encourage it, perhaps, but he enjoyed the devotion and the way Luke would call for him and it gave him an emotional high when Luke would want to kiss his feet and--actually, he _ought_ to be disturbed.

Well, Asch was never all that mentally healthy anyway.

'You've had quite the trip, Dreck, how are you doing?' Asch idly unsheathed his sword and looked it over, trying to distract himself from sounding too concerned. When did "Dreck" become a pet name, anyway?  
_'I'm fine, it's been really interesting,' _Luke answered. Asch rolled his eyes, very much aware that she was treating the whole thing like some kind of adventure.  
'Amazing. Two thousand years and you insist on acting your physical age.'  
_'Why not look for enjoyment when one can? You are going to tire yourself out if you push yourself too hard.'_ Luke projected worry now, and Asch firmly brushed that aside.  
'Tell that to Van. If he suddenly stops his mad quest to bring about destruction, I'd be more than happy to take a vacation.'  
_'I know. Oh, we're approaching port. I have to go.'_

'I'll be watching.'  
_'They'll help me, just worry about yourself--oh, you're pretty close, actually.'_  
'Yes, you'll see why soon. Trust me.'  
_'Of course.'_

Asch carefully pushed the link to the back of his mind. Just in time, as Largo entered the command room, now healed from his run-in with The Necromancer. Sync had already commented that Asch got a stupid look on his face when he started thinking deeply, which pretty much coincided when he contacted Luke.

Asch didn't appreciate the observation.

"So this is where you got off to." Largo sat down in a chair with a short grunt. Out of all the God Generals, Asch had to say that Largo was the least offensive to him. He was level headed and quiet, and he didn't seem to mind when Asch talked his ear off. Asch didn't trust him any further than he could throw the man, but at least he wouldn't have to worry about sabotage from that quarter.  
"I wanted to be alone, is that so hard to believe?" Asch cursed silently when he realized that he had destructed his favorite mug.  
"I suppose not, however," Largo's eyes met his, "you've been acting strange lately, since that incident at Choral Castle."  
Asch raised an eyebrow. "So what if I have? It just threw me off a bit, that's all."  
"Yes, I suppose what happened would unsettle anyone. Ah, well, I suppose we should be thankful for the newfound silence."  
"Hmph. Is that all? Prying into other's affairs simply isn't like you, Largo."  
"Perhaps not, no." They sat in silence, neither comfortable nor uncomfortable. Asch took the conversation as a sign that he had to increase his vigilance. It was hard to act like he used to, though, as angry and, admittedly, as stupid as he was. He never realized just how tiring being so angry was until he let it go. He never realized just how much Van took up his life before then. No doubt it was the man's intention to make Asch so dependent on him. Maybe it was even the man's intention to drive him insane. If nothing else, Asch owed Lorelei for giving him something positive to focus on.

Asch had said he couldn't understand Luke's love for their former master, no matter what the man did. But, honestly, he felt some of that love still, deep down. It was impossible to just carve the man from his heart with ease. With that said, Asch was more than willing to toss the Van under the nearest carriage. If he concentrated, he could even imagine the sound of the wheels crushing his bones; it wasn't that difficult, he'd killed that way before.

'To have that man's blood on my hands...it would be glorious.'

Asch glanced at the nearby sensors. "We're close. I haven't been to Baticul in a long time."  
"Mm," Largo answered.

**********

Luke fon Fabre

Seeing the Capital of Light first hand was just as impressive as Luke thought it would be. It was both incredible and beautiful, well deserving of its nickname.

'To think I've never actually seen my home before. Not that it feels much like home.'

She followed the others onto the dock, eyes still locked on the massive city that loomed before her. It resembled a tower more than anything else, with each terrace becoming increasingly smaller as it reached the top. Luke was unable to make out the castle from where she stood; the cloud cover was too thick, but perhaps she would get the chance to see it once she left for Akzeriuth.

"So this is Master's home...where are the trees?" Mieu sat on her shoulder, paws firmly wrapped in her hair. Luke's lips twitched.

"Yes and no. You're right, though, there isn't much green here, is there? I think I prefer your woods over this."

Mieu nodded, unsurprised that the Cheagle Woods were superior.

"Luke, don't fall behind!" Guy called. The others were ahead and already speaking to two officers of the Kimlascan forces. It seemed to be going well, at least.

Luke held up a hand and quickly closed the distance between them.

"Ah, right, sorry!"

"Master Luke?? So Count Almandine's report was true!" Luke didn't recognize the man immediately, not that that was anything surprising. He was big, even taller than Jade and far more broad in the shoulder and chest. The man looked older than Almandine, but that was mostly due to his bald head and severe mustache. Beside him stood a lovely young woman with bright blonde hair. Both wore the uniforms and decorations of highly ranked military.

"Oh, he did send along word of my condition...and you are?" She came to a stop before them, looking at them expectantly. The man cleared his throat and straightened, pushing away his obvious surprise.

"Excuse me. I am Goldberg, commander of the 1st Division Kimlasca-Lanvaldear Royal Forces."

"Oh yeah...I think I've seen you once around the manor." She had only been "two" then, and he had been in a deep discussion with her father. "And your companion?"

"Brigadier General Cecille, sir," answered the woman.

"Commander, Brigadier General, it's a pleasure." Luke nodded and looked at Ion. "So we're good then? I take it that if they've received Count Almandine's report..."

"Yes, we have arranged for an audience with King Ingobert." Ion replied. His demeanor was very professional, but Luke heard a slight hint of excitement in his voice. He must have been pleased that things were going well, for once.

Goldberg nodded. "Indeed. I am also under personal orders from His Grace, Duke Fabre. My Baticul defense unit will escort you back to your home, Master Luke. He has called upon a variety of specialists and they are to see to you immediately."

"No."

Goldberg's stern expression slipped a moment in surprise, but he quickly regained his composure.

"I am sorry, Master Luke, but I am under strict orders--"

"I realize that, and I am disregarding my father's wishes for the time being. Ion asked me to speak to Uncle on his behalf--I'm taking him to the castle. I'll see whatever doctors he wants after that."

"Yes, but I can hardly tell His Grace that you've refused. He was most insistent."

"If he's so concerned for my health he can come to the castle; in fact," Luke paused, an idea forming in her mind, "please do so. Tell him to meet me at the castle."

Goldberg hesitated, and for good reason. Technically speaking, Luke outranked him, but he was under specific orders from the Duke himself, who wouldn't take kindly to Luke disobeying (and ordering!) him. Asch's short-temperedness was nothing compared to the Duke's when he was in the mood, and nothing got the Duke going faster than insubordinate behavior. Luke felt bad that she was putting him on the spot, but things were too important right now.

"Luke, I don't want you to get into trouble," Ion began, but Luke held up her hand.

"I've been fine so far, and the doctors can wait. If he's going to be sending soldiers down here instead of checking up on me himself then--" Luke took a deep breath, more upset than she thought. It wasn't new or anything, but still. "I told you I would. I need to see Uncle myself about some things. I apologize, Commander, Brigadier General, but I'm not going."

"I see. In that case, I shall send General Cecille to inform His Grace." Goldberg sighed, resigned to receiving the Duke's ire.

'I don't want to be her right now, that's for sure.'

"If you're sure...could you escort us to the castle, then, Luke?" requested Ion.

General Cecille bowed. "I had best go inform Duke Fabre of the new turn of events. Shall I have him meet you in the throne room?"

"Oh, yeah, that'd be perfect, actually." Luke smiled at her before taking Ion's hand. "Come on, I haven't seen the city from this side, so I'm pretty excited."

Ion's face turned a little pink. "That's right, you've been in your manor this whole time, haven't you?"

"Yup, pretty much. Hey, that's one of those trolley things, right?"

Baticul's unique construction meant they relied heavily on mechanical devices to move traffic to and from different areas with ease. Luke could barely sit still, wanting to take in everything. The sheer amount of frequencies here was amazing, although it got difficult for her to distinguish one from another. She'd need more practice with that.

They stepped off the cable car a few moments later. Guy was more than happy to explain the layout of the city and share a small piece of its history as they made their way up winding staircases. They traveled higher and higher, with the levels becoming progressively smaller as they took elevators up into the highest parts of the city. Before long, they were walking through the Nobles' Quarter, which was characterized by few, yet high end, stores and wide lawns. It was the first hint of green they have seen in Baticul so far, even if it was in the form of manicured grass and a few trees. Luke could see the clear difference in wealth between this level and the lower ones. The houses were impressive, not as large as hers but still large, with the people here being related to the royal family in some capacity. The relations were distant, however. Third and fourth cousins she had sort of heard about but never met after her lockdown. The only relative she did meet was--

Natalia.

Luke frowned deeply, slowing her pace as they took the last elevator and climbed the last row of stairs to reach the very pinnacle of Baticul. How could she not have thought of Natalia's feelings in all this? She should be ashamed of herself.

'Asch, why didn't you--'

_'Because...I'm not sure how to handle it, either.'_ They both loved Natalia; she was their friend and cousin. Asch still took his promise that he made with her very seriously. Practically everything he had done up until now had been for her...his ideal of her, at least. He was a little uncertain, though, as it had been years since they last met. Would the real live up to the ideal? On top of that, sooner or later the secret would be out, that the Luke she had known since the kidnapping wasn't who she thought he was. How would she react then? Would she be angry at him for not even trying to see her? Would she believe that their oath hadn't been forgotten and he was trying hard to make it come true?

'Natalia will be fine. She's strong.'

_'Yeah, you're right. She won't be happy with this. They'll probably break the engagement immediately.'_

'What? Why? I mean, I never thought of her in that way, but...'

_'...Why indeed. Pay attention now. I assume you know what you're doing with Father and Uncle.'_

'I need for them to honestly accept the peace offering. They're good men, they'll do the right thing.'

_'Hn, really?' _Asch was far more cynical than she was. In some circumstances that was probably a good thing.

"Luke, is something wrong?" Guy had noticed she was dropping behind again. They were already in the castle and making their way up the stairs to the thrown room. It was every bit as extravagant as Luke imagined it would be. She shook her head and sighed.

"Natalia," was all that she said. Guy winced and rubbed the back of his head.

"She's had some time to absorb the information, so maybe..."

Ion gently squeezed Luke's hand. "Natalia? You mean the princess?"

"And Luke's betrothed. Well, that may not be the case anymore."

"Ah."

When they reached the top of the stairs, they were stopped by one of the guards.

"Grand Maestro Mohs is currently in an audience with His Majesty. Please wait."

'That's no good! That man is blindly following the Score. We better get in there before he causes anymore damage.' The others had stepped back to let her handle it, as she was the only one in the group with the authority.

"I'm sorry, we're going in anyway." Luke already placed her hands on the doors to push them open. "I am Luke, son...well, child, of Duke Fabre. I'm going to have to ask you to step aside."

The guard sputtered a bit before shaking his head.

"I'm sorry, but they are not to be disturbed for any reason."

_'Will you hurry up and threaten him already??'_

'But--'

_'Unless you want to force your way in. Or stand idly by while Uncle listens to the Grand Maestro's lies--'_

'Okay, okay!...'

Luke took a deep breath. "Oh, my mistake."

"Er..."

"You see, when I told you that I was going into the throne room, I assumed that you liked being gainfully employed. I assumed that you enjoyed earning a salary and feeding your family. Obviously, as you are disobeying my orders, that is not the case. This can be rectified."

The guard froze in horror and bowed.

"Forgive me, Master Luke. Please, enter." The other guard wisely didn't say anything.

_'Not bad, Dreck.'_

'I was thinking about how you might do it.' Luke couldn't help but preen a bit. Compliments from Asch were exceedingly rare.

_'Even better--ah, damn,'_ Asch closed their connection for a moment. When he returned, his voice was harried. _'I have to go, you'll hear from me soon.'_

Luke could tell that he was up to something, but there was nothing for it at the moment. She pushed open the doors.

"Let's go in, shall we?" The first thing she noticed was a portly man with ornate robes and hat standing before the throne, speaking with her uncle.

"Ugh, that's him. That's Mohs," Anise said, eyes narrowing.

"The Malkuth Empire is strengthening the defenses in their capital, Grand Chokamah." Mohs' report sounded more like a debriefing than consultation. "With Engeve as their supply base, even Saint Binah has been--"

Both her uncle and another man in uniform noticed their group approaching and started with surprise. Probably no one has ever dared to interrupt the king before. Mohs saw that they were staring and turned as well. Luke immediately didn't like the look on his face at all. The man in uniform was the first to speak.

"How dare you?? Who gave you permission to enter this hall??"

"I gave myself permission. I'm sorry, but it's important." Luke turned her gaze to her uncle, who was still staring at her. She hadn't seen the man much at all over seven years. She could count the occasions he had come over on one hand. He was incredibly busy, but Luke also got the feeling it was because he had a hard time looking them in the eye, knowing what was going to happen in the future. His sister, her mother, had always wanted children but her constitution meant she could only bring one to term, much less bear it. Knowing that, and sending her son off to his doom anyway must have been difficult for him. Luke could sympathize, really, even if she was the one that was going to be annihilated.

Ingobert leaned forward in his throne. "Is that you, Luke...? By Rem, what happened to you?"

"It's quite the story, Uncle. Not long but..." Luke shrugged helplessly. Mohs had the sense to move out of the way as she stepped closer. Ingobert rubbed his forehead, visibly perplexed.

"I had heard what happened, but...there wasn't nearly enough information! We didn't know what to think and almost believed it to be some trick. I believe your father still does, to some extent."

'That would be like him. He'd have to see it to believe it.'

"Speaking of whom, have you seen your father, yet?"

Luke shook her head, her grip on Mieu tightening slightly when she thought of how angry he was going to be.

"No, I came straight here. I asked him to come by as well. In any case, that's not important right now."

"I...yes, perhaps." He settled back onto his throne and cleared his throat. "I had also heard about the people you were bringing with you. They must be..."

"Fon Master Ion, from the Order of Lorelei, and Jade, from the Malkuth military."

Ion smiled politely and nodded his head. "It is an honor to see you again, Your Majesty. I am Ion."

Mohs was clearly tense, and his voice wavered slightly at their appearance.

"Fon Master...W-We've been looking for you..."

"We will speak later." That was the first time Luke heard Ion sound even remotely displeased. "Your Majesty, this is Colonel Jade Curtiss. He represents His Imperial Majesty, Peony the Ninth."

Jade knelt onto the ground and bowed his head. "I am honored to be in your presence. I bear an imperial letter from my lord for His Glorious Majesty, King Ingobert the Sixth."

"Uncle, what the Grand Maestro says is pure nonsense. I have seen Malkuth with my own eyes. We did not get near the capital, but Engeve and Saint Binah were completely peaceful and--" Luke was interrupted by Mohs, who was trying to reclaim lost ground.

"W-What did you say?? I'm merely trying to convey to His Majesty the threat that Malkuth--"

"Well, thank you for your concern, Grand Maestro, but we can take it from here." Luke glared at the man.

"Calm down, Luke, the letter made it here safely. I won't ignore it. Now, you all must be tired--"

"Luke!"

Ingobert coughed slightly. "Ah, that must be your father."

Luke could feel herself cringing. "Oh man, I knew he'd be upset..." Duke Fabre was, indeed, upset, if the way the doors burst open was any indication. Everyone quietly stepped aside, leaving Luke exposed as her father marched forward, face set into a fierce scowl.

'Thanks a lot, guys! Why don't you just hang me out to dry while you're at it!'

Mieu was shaking slightly on her shoulder, but he was determined to stay with her here, too. Luke forced herself to meet the Duke's eyes.

"Father--"

"What is this??" He stopped a few feet ahead of her and looked her over. His shock was obvious, but it was greatly tempered by his ire. "I recall specifically ordering you to the mansion the moment you stepped into Baticul! Your mother has worried herself sick, not only with your disappearance, but with the news that you've--" He couldn't think of a word that would adequately describe what happened, so he left it at that. Luke flushed and valiantly resisted the urge to cover her face and find some hole in the floor to sink into.

"I know, Father, I'm--"

"This had better not be some trick." The Duke's voice had dipped dangerously then, which caused Guy to step forward and bow.

"My Lord, this is Luke, I'm sure of it."

"Hm? Is that so?? And where were you, pray tell, when this happened??" Duke sharply waved his hand in Luke's direction.

Guy kept his head bowed. "I apologize, my Lord. I was lax in my duty--"

"I should have you punished for this--!!"

Luke would have nothing of it. She stepped between them to keep her father from making good on his word.

"Father, that's enough! Guy has brought me back safe and sound. He has been nothing less than...than...Guy, what's that word that means excellent?"

"Ah...exemplary?" he suggested, quickly returning his gaze to the floor when the Duke glared at him.

"Yes, that's right. Father, I look different, but I'm me."

"Be that as it may, you are going to go straight home and let the doctors take a look at you. We will decide then on the best course to take."

"Perhaps this should be discussed in private?" Ingobert raised his eyebrow. "No need to air family grievances in court."

The Duke's jaw tightened. "You are right, of course. I lost my head for a moment. Luke, we are returning home. Now."

"Actually..." Luke glanced at her uncle. "I need to speak with you and uncle. Alone."

"You are trying my patience, Luke. I suppose your being transported into the outside world has something to do with this. Who do I have to 'thank' for making you so willful?"

Tear shifted uncomfortably.

"It's not about that, Father. It's very important. I need to speak to the two of you alone. No guards, either."

Ingobert's lips twitched. "I told you, Luke, that you don't have to worry. I'm going to take this bid for peace very seriously."

"It's...well, that's related, but..." Luke looked at her friends. They had kept their mouths shut so far and were watching the drama before them with interest. "I'm sorry, but I need everyone to leave. I mean it."

"What is the meaning of this? I'll not have you disobeying me any further." Duke Fabre began to reach forward to take her arm and march her back to the mansion whether she liked it or not.

"I refuse to leave until I've talked to you!"

"Young man--"

"It's unorthodox, but I don't see the harm," Ingobert said quickly, more to break up an impending argument than anything else, "guards, escort our guests out of the hall. No one but the three of us is to remain. And this time, do _not_ allow anyone to interrupt. Am I clear?"

The guards saluted in unison and began to usher everyone out of the throne room.

"You, too, Mieu. Go with Tear, okay?" Luke carefully placed him on the floor. Mieu looked disappointed, but he readily hopped into Tear's arms. Guy looked back at her, both worried and curious as to why she would request such an audience. Once the doors closed firmly behind them, the Duke whirled on his child, furious.

"Well?? I have never been so--"

"You want to kill me." Luke decided to cut straight to the point. Duke Fabre froze in mid-scold, while Ingobert nearly jumped from his throne. An uncomfortable silence passed before Ingobert cleared his throat.

"Luke...what do you mean--"

"Well, I shouldn't say that you _want_ me to die, not in that way. But I have to die, don't I?"

Duke Fabre turned away, his hand rubbing his face. Luke placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I know about Akzeriuth. I know that the Score says that I must go to the city so that, one day, it would lead to the prosperity of Kimlasca." Well, technically, it didn't even say _that_, but everyone had pretty much decided that was the case, so...

Ingobert sank back into his throne, looking every bit his age. She could see the guilt in both of them; it was a little gratifying, to be honest, since that meant they did care, at least.

"How did you find out?" asked the Duke, still unable to look at her. His voice was gruff and his shoulders were shaking slightly. It didn't take much to expose the shame and grief just below the surface. As long as Luke had been ignorant, he could at least _pretend_ nothing was wrong. Not so much anymore, and the Duke was clearly unsure how to proceed.

Luke tapped the grip of her rapier before she decided to simply go for it. She was trying to change things, right?

"That's difficult to say. I only found out recently, but at the same time, I have always known from the moment humanity has chosen to rigidly follow one set path of the Score."

The two men stared at her, neither sure how to take that statement.

"Luke?..." Ingobert slowly stood from his throne and moved closer to them. Luke closed her eyes and considered her next words. She should try for mystical, right?

"I am the Light of the Sacred Flame, yes. My shape isn't the only thing that has changed, Father, Uncle. I can see the Score, I can feel and move within it. If I concentrate hard enough, I can see the infinite possibilities of your futures." She was glowing now, although, honestly, that was more for effect than anything else. She couldn't afford to spend a lot of time trying to convince them that she spoke the truth.

_'Why not grow a pair of wings while you're at it?'_

'I just might give you a matching pair as well if you keep it up.'

Luke continued, "There are many things that you do not know, but can you trust what I say for now? Those seven years we've had together may not be much, but we've had them."

"I..." The King paused to gather to his wits. "Are you Lorelei?"

"Yes. When I turned into a woman, I became Lorelei. I am the Sentience itself, as well as Luke."

"My word..." Both the King and her father had to sit on the low steps that led to the dais. Luke had never seen them look so, well, undignified. Luke knelt in front of them, tucking her legs underneath her.

"If it helps, I am still the Luke of the past seven years." She wasn't going to tell them about Asch just yet. He wouldn't like that, for one thing, and she was shocking them enough.

Finally, the Duke spoke once more.

"Since you already know, we may as well tell you everything. We didn't know what to think, when we first learned of your fate. I...for a moment I thought it was because of my sins. I admit that I wished it was one of your distant cousins that would be sent off to die; I still wish it and I'm not sorry for it. But the Score is absolute, what could we do? Especially when we learned that your fonon frequency and Lorelei's were identical. Still, we couldn't tell your mother."

"She would have tried to stop it, right?"

Ingobert looked faintly amused. "She most certainly would have. But as King, I must think of all of my subjects. If that was what it took for the entire kingdom to know prosperity, then I would do it. But now..."

"We will break free from the Score."

Now they were looking at her as if she had lost her mind. Luke shook her head.

"I have spent two thousand years in the core of the planet, watching as humans spiraled toward destruction, as selfishness over what the Score said dictated their lives. I saw countless killed and others abandoned because of something written ages ago." Luke held out her hands. "Heed me: the Score is not truly set in stone. It represents countless possibilities. If humans didn't insist on being so predictable, then their potential is infinite. They are more than capable of accomplishing this."

"Abandon--" Ingobert began.

"Well, I'm not going to let myself die. I'll need your help. To free humanity of the Score would be breaking two thousand years worth of tradition. It would mean going through each day not knowing what will happen. People will need leadership more than ever."

"You are asking for quite a lot."

Duke Fabre raised his head. "You are Lorelei, truly?"

"I am."

The Duke stroked his jaw for a moment, thoughtfully looking off to the side. When he faced her, he wore a grim smile on his face.

"Then we'll have to disobey the Score." He ran his hand through his hair. Luke had never seen that particular nervous gesture before. "What am I saying? But I want to believe that we can change the future. I don't want you to die, even when thought I had resigned myself to it. I have never been a proper father to you; this once, I want to do something worthy by you."

Ingobert, however, was having a great deal more trouble with simply tossing the Score away.

"Still, what Luke is proposing--"

"Our duty is to our people, you know this," Duke Fabre said to this brother-in-law, "if Luke...Lorelei...if following the Score as it is right now will lead to destruction, then we have a responsibility to our subjects to do what we can. It will be terrifying at first, even I admit this; however, if I understand correctly, humans will once again have a say in their own fate."

Ingobert sighed, steepling his fingers together as he leaned his elbows onto his knees.

"To know destruction is ahead and still rush blindly to it would be the height of stupidity. And, I must confess, if it was Natalia I would probably be more willing. However...how do we know what you say is true?"

"Ingobert--" Luke had never heard her father refer to her uncle so casually. King Ingobert shook his head.

"I'm sorry, but too many things have happened for me to simply agree with what Luke is saying. Are you sure you're agreeing with Luke because you truly believe? Or is it that you _want_ to believe?"

_'Do you see? It would have been better if we didn't say anything. The fewer people with their hands in this the better.'_

'I disagree.'

_'Then you know they will accept your terms?'_

'Er, well.'

_'You can't account for this in your calculations?'_

'Statistically speaking, they might. The main problem is this is woven with my fate, which, well, I can't really see. Still, if this only affected us you would have a point, but...everyone in the world has a stake. It will be chaos once we break the Score.'

_'Things have been stagnant for too long. People deserve to have their world shaken up a bit. They need the chaos; it is only then that we can reshape the world and build. Van is wrong, but that doesn't mean I'm going to let them off the hook.'_

'That isn't our decision to make.'

_'Considering what's happened, it damn well is. If it wasn't for a fluke, and I do mean fluke, your consciousness would still be down in the core and Van would be on his merry way to kill ten thousand people. Humans have been wrong for far too long. They need to be punished for this.'_

'I will not be their judge. I want to help them, save them, but I'm not going to treat them like children.'

_'Then they need to stop acting like children! They fought amongst themselves and altered the planet itself; they made a mess and the only way they got out of it was for you and Yulia to tell them what to do. They then spent the next two thousand years being told what to do. How is that not child-like? However, seeing as you've already told Father and Uncle, you'll just have to use some other way to convince them.'_

'I don't want to use force.'

_'It's that attitude that got you stuck in the core in the first place.'_

Luke brushed off the slight. 'We can talk--'

_'You know just as well as I do there are times when talking simply won't work.'_ Asch sighed. _'Dammit, I __can do it for you if it's too difficult.'_

'And after this, what will you do?'

_'The world is at stake, don't make me do the difficult things alone...I've had more than enough of that.'_

'Asch...'

"I do not want my only child to die! Am I to be condemned for that?" Duke Fabre snapped. Ingobert frowned, not intimidated in the least.

"You were willing to let it happen before!"

"Excuse me??"

Luke shifted uncomfortably. "Enough!"

"Luke? What is it?" Duke Fabre began to reach for her, but he couldn't quite bridge the gap just yet.

Luke rubbed her face, much like her father did moments ago.

"I don't want to have to do this."

"Do what?"

"I...I am no longer asking for your assistance. I am now demanding it."

Fonon Sentience or not, King Ingobert did not take kindly to demands.

"Now see here--!"

"I don't want to resort to threats or violence, but if that's what I have to do, then I will. I won't let myself die quietly for your stupid war! You think I'm lying to save my own life?"

Ingobert sighed. "It is a possibility, and, I admit, I don't blame you if you're upset that we would--"

Luke suddenly stood and marched to the middle of the hall. She could sense the others right past the thick doors and hoped that no one would come in. Luke took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

The power didn't come immediately, but it has been so long since she could readily tap into it that she hardly noticed. Then the room began to melt and shift and fade away into a bright, golden glow. The Duke and King Ingobert looked around in shock as the throne room disappeared from sight.

"This is my mind, this is what I see." Luke rubbed her temple. "It's...hard to project it like this, in this physical body at least. Look Father, Uncle."

Duke Fabre reached out and carefully touched a stream of golden strands.

"What is this?"

"The Score--don't look too closely, be careful. You'll probably go insane from the overload."

"But...the Planetary Score was the size of seven mountains! How can this be?" Ingobert was peering at the golden strands, curious, but mindful of Luke's warning. She could tell even then that his chest was starting to ache, and her father was already suffering from a headache.

"I am Lorelei, I embody the Score itself. Written down in your language, It would span that long." Luke grasped one strand and pulled. "Humans have always fascinated me. To have so much potential...much more than what I am capable of. The Sentients are bound by what we are--not so with humanity. It is wonderful."

"What is that? Is that our Score reading?"

"Here is the path that you so desperately cling to. Akzeriuth falls like you wish, and war envelops Auldrant...yes, you are right--see how Grand Chokmah and its emperor falls!" Her voice changed and grew in scope, echoing painfully in Duke Fabre's and the King's heads. In order to properly read the strand she had to exert more of her power, and the humans trapped within her mind were made helpless. They cringed and Ingobert clutched his chest, but Luke was insistent. If he required proof so badly then he would get it.

"Yes, see how Kimlasca-Lanvaldear enters a new, prosperous age...but due to the plague that spreads through Malkuth because of the viciousness of the war. Look how the dead spread contagion--no, Uncle, do not turn away from your path! This is what you want, right? This is your desire! See how your people alone thrive while the rest of the world succumbs to disease and filth. Ah, but that is not your concern, is it? I suppose it is their fault for daring to be born in Malkuth, hm? However, look at what happens into Natalia's fifth year of reign--you've already passed on, but one man will bring the contagion into Baticul and her people will not stand a chance. It is a shame you neglected to consider that what you want so badly might not last that long! You do not look well, Uncle."

Ingobert was gasping for breath, his eyes were wild as he stared at the thread in Luke's hands.

The Duke steadied him, torn between anger and concern. "That is enough! He is having a heart attack!"

"Yes, Ingobert isn't so different from Mother. He's always had heart trouble."

"Luke!" Sweat began to bead on the Duke's forehead from strain.

"I'm sorry, I...I'll stop." Luke pulled her mind back into her body, bringing them back into the throne room. The Duke carefully lowered him to the floor.

"Get a doctor in here!"

"No, let me." Luke knelt beside her uncle and placed a hand over his heart. "I'm sorry, I really am! I don't like hurting anyone." She concentrated and began to push seventh fonons at his heart. The results were immediate, as his breath began to normalize and his color improved. Luke frowned. "Oh Uncle, there's a lot of scaring around your heart. Let me fix that, at least."

Ingobert closed his eyes as she worked.

"Luke...or...should I say Lorelei?"

"Luke is fine, Uncle. I am still that child. It's hard to say, but I have always been a fragment of Lorelei's soul. I now am that soul."

"...Was that horrible sight true?"

"It's one path of many, Uncle, never forget that. That is the path with the highest probability of occurring, given the actions of the people involved. There, I'm finished. How do you feel?"

"Better...ironically, much better than I have in years." Ingobert sat up with their assistance and sighed. "I asked for that, I admit it. Lorelei--Luke, what do you suggest? We have no time to waste."

'There, you see? I knew they would!'

_'You do realize that's because you nearly killed him.'_

'He was in no danger of dying. That wasn't all, Asch.'

"As for now, we continue the plan. Simply averting Akzeriuth will not be enough."

Duke Fabre agreed. "Yes, that would probably be too simple. It will be a massive undertaking that will require the cooperation of Malkuth and Daath. This offer for a formal truce presents us with a perfect opportunity."

"Indeed. Whatever happens, at the very least, war must not break out. For now, we will have to work in secrecy. We should also try to come up with a contingency plan if Malkuth and Daath aren't quite so willing to agree with us," Ingobert replied.

"Um, I'll leave you two to figure that out. Politics and stuff aren't really my strong point." Luke took a deep breath and heaved herself onto her feet.

"We will have to put it on hold for now." Ingobert also stood and cracked his back. He placed a hand on his chest, as if he felt phantom pains. "So, what shall be done about Akzeriuth? We have been keeping an eye on it for years, and recent reports have confirmed that it is in jeopardy. I assume Emperor Peony has included this in his missive."

"I've already started working on it. I know you won't like this, but I'll still need to go for a few reasons. Don't worry, I'm prepared."

Duke Fabre looked unhappy, but in the end he placed a hand on her shoulder. All that about breaking away from the Score and forging a future based on free will, and she was going down there anyway.

"We will have to trust you. I can scarcely believe it...Lorelei." Luke leaned into his touch, as the Duke wasn't one for physical gestures and he'd never done anything like it before. It was nice. Maybe, before she left, she'd even get a hug from him.

"I am still your kid, you know."

'Well, hopefully I still will be after he learns the whole truth.'

_'Now who's being stupid? Weren't you going on about the past seven years?'_

The Duke nodded. "I suppose you don't have to see the doctor, now."

"I'll still go, if only so Mother feels better. It won't hurt to get a check up, I guess. Besides, it would look odd if you suddenly said that I didn't have to see any specialists."

Ingobert turned grave. "Luke, you should also know that Susanne has fallen ill. I have sent Natalia to her side in my place. She has been anxious as well."

"I better go see Mother soon." Luke stuffed her hands into her pockets and tilted her head back. "And Natalia? Is she upset?"

"When she first learned about it, yes, she was. However, she might surprise you."

"Probably. Thank you, though, Father, Uncle. I know this must be difficult--"

Duke Fabre's eyebrows raised. "There's no need for that, especially considering we were knowingly going to send you to your death."

"We'll have to talk about it later, then. We'd better go."

"Yes." The Duke bowed slightly. "Your Highness. We shall take our leave...oh, yes. Luke, what do you know about Dorian General Grants?"

"You think he had something to do with my kidnapping."

"That was the thought, yes. You must know."

"I do. Actually, he really had nothing to do with it." This time. "However, it would also be odd if you simply dropped the charges as well. Go on and toss him into the dungeon. He'll need to go with us to Akzeriuth, however."

"Now I really am surprised! You make no secret of your fondness of Dorian General Grants. What else is there?" Neither of them were stupid, but Luke couldn't exactly have Van arrested for crimes he didn't do and had yet to do. Daath would have him out of custody in a heartbeat, anyway. Just a little more time to end this peacefully...

Luke shifted uncomfortably. "I know, but let's just do this for now."

Ingobert nodded and once again sat on his throne. Luke gave him a short wave as she followed her father out of the hall, elated that it went so well...considering. If only everything else could slip neatly into place, but she really doubted that it would.

"There you are!" Ion greeted as they passed through the door. Mohs was gone, but the military man from earlier was still present. He bowed when he saw her father.

"Your Grace, I trust everything is well?"

Duke Fabre gently grasped Luke's arm. "Yes, Alpine, it is. I will see Luke home myself. Susanne is ill and the specialists are waiting. If you and the guards could return to His Majesty until I return?"

"Of course. Please excuse us."

"If it's not too much trouble, I asked to stay in your manor for the night." Ion looked up at the Duke hopefully.

"We will be honored to have such an eminent guest." Now that he wasn't so angry, the Duke took the time to examine the group Luke traveled with. His gaze sharpened slightly when it landed on Jade, but once he noticed Tear it became totally unreadable.

"I hear," he began, "that it was thanks to you that my son was spirited halfway across the world. Which, in turn, led to his current condition."

To her credit, Tear faced him fully and spoke in a clear voice.

"I apologize for all the trouble I've caused." Tear sounded sincere, but the Duke didn't look very impressed.

"You are Van's sister?"

"Yes."

"I have also received a report that you intended to assassinate Van. I realize you are young; however, as someone who serves in the military your conduct was beyond unacceptable. You should thank your superiors. It is only by the grace of His Majesty and the Grand Maestro that you are walking freely. Am I clear?"

Tear bowed. "You have my deepest apologies."

"Hm. Come, Luke. I must return to the castle after I drop you off."

"Yeah, okay." Luke nudged her father and gave him a pointed look. The Duke sighed and turned to Guy.

"I suppose I was too hasty in my judgment. Thank you for bringing Luke home safely."

Guy gaped for a long moment before he quickly stood at attention.

"Thank you, your Grace."

"The Colonel has to stay here, but I'll be by in a bit," Anise told Luke as they passed, "you have fun!"

Luke grinned in response and followed Duke Fabre down the long flight of stairs and out into the sunlight. The mansion was only right next door, less than a minute away, but her father wished to speak with the specialists briefly before Luke saw them. Once they stepped into the entrance hall, he also informed them that General Cecille would be picking Van up at the harbor.

"What was that about?" Guy asked, seeing an opportunity to speak freely now that the small group was alone. The question could have referred to several things that happened recently, but Luke went for the most obvious one.

"They think Master Van conspired to have me kidnapped."

Guys eyes widened. "What? Really? But wasn't that--" He glanced at Tear, who didn't say anything in response. "Anyway, I'm sure it'll get cleared up. Tear, as long as you're here, you should probably apologize to the Lady as well. She probably fell ill because Luke went missing."

Tear winced slightly from guilt and quietly agreed.

"You're right. I'll do that."

"I hope your mother is okay, Luke." Ion said in concern as Luke lead them deeper into the manor.

"Mother's stronger than she looks; besides, Natalia is looking after her." Luke opened the door to the Drawing Room and was nearly bowled over.

"Oh, Luke, look at you!" Natalia examining her closely, pressing her hands gently on Luke's neck before moving to cup her face. "It's true, it's really..."

"Natalia..." Luke didn't know what to say. In everything that's happened she had forgotten about her (which was bad enough), but knowing Natalia's feelings for her, when she was...well, not even Luke to begin with, among other things...

It was awkward. Really, really awkward.

Natalia sighed and gave her a small smile.

"Silly, don't look at me like that. I'm just happy that you're alright."

Luke blinked. "Really?"

"Well, perhaps I am not _completely_ happy about what happened. I'm still rather stunned, to be honest. To see you like this, I..." She took a deep breath and shook her head.

"I know things are weird now, and I know you want answers. Don't worry, alright?"

"I can hardly not worry, Luke! Have you seen the doctors, yet?" Natalia crossed her arms and raised her eyebrow expectantly.

"Oh, um, not yet. I was going to see Mother first. How is she?"

"She is resting right now. She has improved enormously when she heard you reached Baticul safely. After you see her, you _will_ see the doctors, won't you." Her last remark didn't sound very much like a question. Natalia would probably escort Luke herself to make sure she behaved.

'Spend your entire life running from doctors and you're branded.'

"Yes, ma'am, I'll go straight to the specialists and let them poke and prod me."

Natalia sighed and gave her a small smile. "You had better. Oh! Luke, what a darling dress! Isn't that the latest spring fashion?"

"Yeah! We stopped by in Chesedonia to transfer ferries."

"I was thinking of getting one myself in a light blue. How is it?"

"Not bad at all. I was a little surprised. The material is very light, so it's very comfortable--"

Guy coughed. "Ah, perhaps we could have this discussion at some other time?"

"Don't think I've forgotten about you, Guy." Natalia crossed her arms and she looked at him with complete disapproval. "You have some explaining to do, too. I told you to come tell me before you went searching for Luke! Why did you leave without speaking to me?"

She took a step toward him, growing more annoyed when Guy leaped backward and hid behind a pillar.

"You know a servant like me can't get into the castle!" he protested, his arm raised as if to ward her off.

Natalia sighed in exasperation and put her hands on her hips.

"Why are you backing away?"

"You know why!"

"Get used to it. You're so strange. Look at how pathetic you are. I don't know what the maids see in you."

_'She speaks the truth. I love her.'_ Asch was enjoying the scene a bit more than he should have.

"I thought it was because he's handsome," Luke said so Natalia could hear as well. "And he's nice. And he's good with a sword. I can see it." Luke was on the receiving end of another look from Guy and Tear, but Natalia only looked thoughtful.

"Well! I suppose as he's your friend you would think that."

"Oh, yes, I've always thought it. He's certainly nicer looking than the maids." Luke turned to Guy in concern when he began choking.

"Well, if you say so. Oh, and Luke, I'm sorry to hear about Master Van."

"Huh? Oh, yes, his arrest. Well, I'm okay."

Tear frowned. "Then they're going to arrest him?"

"Well, yeah...it's what my father meant earlier about the Brigadier General going down to meet Van. I've already taken care of it."

Natalia had overlooked her entirely earlier, but Tear caught her attention when she spoke.

"Who is this? One of your servant girls?"

"This is Tear, she's Master Van's sister. In any case, I'm going to go see my mother, Natalia. Thanks for looking after her for me. I guess Tear wants to come with me, so, Guy, could you show Ion around? I want to stay with Mother for a while."

"Sure thing."

"I will pray for her good health," Ion said.

"Thanks." Luke motioned for Tear to follow her out of the Drawing Room.

Luke lead Tear deeper into the manor, down the long hallway that lead to her parents' bedchambers. She knocked briefly on the door before opening it and slipping inside. Susanne was actually sitting up in bed. She had noticeable bags under her eyes, but there was a bit of color to her cheeks. Luke watched as her entire demeanor seemed to come to life the moment her eyes laid on her child. Luke smiled brightly, swearing that she'd never take her mother for granted ever again. Guy and her friends weren't the only ones who deserved better.

"Oh Luke! Is it really you? I was so worried about you!" Susanne didn't care what Luke came back as. Luke unbuckled her weapon and placed it on the nearby chair. She walked over to her mother and carefully wrapped her arms around her. Susanne stiffened briefly in surprise, but she was happily holding her close the next second. Luke grunted in surprise at the strength of her embrace.

'You should be here, you know.' Luke thought. Asch never answered her.

"Let me look at you...have you seen the doctors yet? Are you well?" Her mother smoothed her hair and brushed imaginary dust off her coat.

"I'm fine. I haven't been yet as I wanted to see you first. You look good, Mother."

"When I heard you were coming home safe and sound, I was so thrilled. It's been two months and I was certain you had been kidnapped again..." Susanne trailed off when Tear stepped forward and fell to her knees before her.

"Madame, I beg your forgiveness. I'm the one that involved your son. I tried to strike down my brother without thought to where I was."

"So you are Van's sister, Tear?"

"Yes."

"...I see. You say that what happened this time was not the work of villains pursuing my son?"

"By Lorelei and Yulia, I swear it was not." Luke's lips twitched from Tear's oath. Luckily, neither her mother nor Tear noticed, however. Susanne motioned for Tear to stand and nodded.

"Thank you." Susanne paused for a moment. "Tear, I don't know what's happened between you and Van. I know it's not my place, but please, never again think of striking your own brother. Family fighting family is entirely too sad."

As usual, Tear was difficult to read. If the words had struck a chord within her, it didn't show. Instead, Tear bowed respectfully.

"I am grateful for your kind words."

Susanne smiled warmly at her before she gently squeezed Luke's hands.

"Oh Luke, while I have wanted a daughter as well, I wasn't really expecting this. But, just know that no matter what happens I love you. I know you and your father don't really see eye to eye, but I know he feels the same way. You've come back to me; I'm fine now. Go let everyone see that you've returned."

Luke shook her head and slid to her knees as well. She leaned her head against her mother's lap and let herself relax.

"Let me stay for a while. Everyone can wait."

"I'll see myself out." Tear bowed to Susanne once more and tactfully retreated. Susanne looked delighted as she ran her fingers through Luke's hair. They hadn't done this in years, stopping when Luke deemed himself too big and grown up for it.

This sort of connection was what Lorelei sorely missed during his/her/its stay within the core. Her mother was warm and smelled a bit like the medicines she had to take daily, but they were nearly impossible to detect under her perfume. Her mother had always been weak, and when Ingobert told her about her illness Luke wasn't very surprised. She didn't see her mother dying for a long while yet, anyway.

"Oh, what a darling dress. That's the new spring style, isn't it?"

Luke chuckled and obligingly slipped off her coat so she could get a better look. She tossed it aside and laid her head back against her mother's thigh. Susanne examined it, talking about possibly owning such a dress in a wistful tone of voice (she was technically too old to wear it, although Luke disagreed).

"I've talked to Father, too. Don't worry. I think we'll get along better from now on."

"I'm so glad to hear that! He was very worried while you were gone. Of course, you know how he is. He doesn't like anyone knowing how he's feeling, so I'm afraid he was a bit of a terror the past several weeks."

Oh, Luke could believe it. Like father, like son.

Susanne ran her fingers through her hair once more.

"Now, go and see the doctors. I'll be here."

Luke grumbled a bit but Susanne was insistent. She reluctantly pulled away and stumbled to her feet. Maybe she should get it over with.

*

Luke had been expecting a lot more fuss and people when she finally got around to the room that was set aside for the examination. Instead, there was only one doctor present, the others having been dismissed by her father earlier. The remaining doctor was an older woman with short, blue hair and bifocals. She gave Luke a once over before ordering her to take her clothes off.

Asch dryly noted that she was attracting far more attention from women now than she ever did as a male.

Dr. Francesca Asholm specialized in women's health and was the best Baticul had to offer. Luke couldn't quite decide if she wanted to be mortified or, well, interested. On the one hand, it made perfect sense to have Dr. Asholm there to make sure everything was fine, but on the other, the woman was prodding places Luke hadn't even prodded yet. Well, it was certainly better than it was before the Dawn Age, where practically every symptom a woman exhibited was credited to hysteria by male doctors.

'Although, honestly, I wouldn't really mind being treated for hysteria--'

_'Stop that, you're seven!'_

"I was your mother's midwife, you know," Francesca said as she finished her ultrasound. It was one fon machine out of four present in the room, but it was the one that held most of Luke's interest. Well, more specifically, it was using acoustic energy to map surfaces that caught her interest. Perhaps...

"Oh, you were?"

"Yes. It was a difficult birth and you were such a tiny thing. Well, you're perfectly healthy now. Heart rate and blood pressure are normal. I see here...yes, there are no abnormal growths on your breasts or ovaries whatsoever. Would you like for me to speak with you about certain women's issues? You're at that age--"

"Oh, um, not right now." Luke hopped off the table to collect her clothing.

"Are you sure? I'm sure your mother and Princess Natalia would be more than happy to help if you find it uncomfortable to speak with me about it. But I must stress that you take care of it soon." Dr. Asholm began to dispose of her instruments and gave Luke a stern look over her glasses. "We don't know how long this will last, but for safety's sake I'm going to presume that the change is permanent. You do know what that means, don't you?"

"Well, I do..."

"Hm. Well, feel free to come to me for anything. It's getting late and you should get some rest. Try not to worry your mother too badly."

"I'll try, thanks." Luke shook her hand and saw her out the door, slightly worried about what she said. Luke had never really thought of it before, but Dr. Asholm did have a point about those biological issues. It hadn't been a problem before, but now that she had a definite female form...

'Better not think of that too much right about now. I should go ahead and go to bed. It's been an interesting day.'

As Luke headed to her room, she was practically accosted by a maid with a dinner tray. No amount of refusing could get her to go away, and once Luke found out it was from her mother she ended up taking it back to her room. It was nearly dark at this point. Luke spotted the light shining from the crack under her door and felt Guy's frequency a moment after she mentally reached out to check. It was just like him.

Luke opened the door and slipped inside.

"Guy?"

He was leaning by her dresser, not daring to sit on her bed even though she had told him she didn't mind several times before. He wasn't supposed to be in her room anyway.

"Hey there. How'd it go?" He straightened when she entered the room and shut the door behind her.

"I'm fine. The doctor didn't see anything wrong. You want some of this?" Luke placed the tray on her bed and unfastened her sword and kicked off her boots. The jacket was next, tossed sloppily onto a chair before she plopped onto her comforter.

"I've already eaten, thanks." Guy rolled his eyes when she pointedly motioned for him to sit. He perched at the end of her bed and wouldn't move closer. He was so tense Luke was surprised his tendons didn't snap. Still, he was trying, and she was glad, so she didn't say anything. "Anyway, I was just checking up on you before I turned in myself. Ion's already settled, and Tear had to head back to the castle to report to Mohs."

"I don't trust that Mohs."

Guy shrugged. "Well, I'm reserving judgment for now. He might actually mean well, and Tear is a staunch defender of his."

"Yeah, I heard. What do you think's going to happen now?"

"I guess things'll go back to normal. Uh, I don't know if you'll be under tighter security now, though."

"Oh, yeah. Well, I won't worry about it." Luke finished off half of her filet mignon before pushing the tray at Guy. "Here, I know you're hungry."

"Haha, I have to admit, I don't mind parts of this new you. How'd you know?"

"Servants can't eat until everyone's been seen to. Even I know that. Go on, I'm full." She snickered when all but tore into what remained of a small loaf of bread.

"I wasn't going to refuse. I was just curious. But I really can't stay long since a maid'll be by soon."

"You said you'd never leave me, right?"

Guy paused in shoveling food down his throat.

"What's this about? I meant every word."

"I just...no matter what happens, right? No matter what I might do?"

"Luke, are you in trouble or something?"

Luke sighed and ran a hand over her face, not unlike the Duke earlier.

"Things are happening, Guy. And I won't be the same person you think I am." She couldn't say more without telling everything. "I just want to make sure."

"I--" Guy was cut off when there was a light knocking on the door.

"Master Luke?"

"That's my cue." Guy gathered up the tray and was at the window in three long strides. "Luke, don't worry so much. It's not like you."

"Yeah, you're right. I'm being stupid. Good night."  
"Rest well."

The maid knocked again, more insistent this time.

"Master Luke? Are you alright? May I come in?"

"Y-Yeah, it's open." Luke glanced at the window where Guy was and sighed. She would be glad when there wasn't such a need for secrecy.

**********

_To be continued..._


End file.
